Group Knocks ANLCA Over Agitations To Scrap Customs’ Post Clearance Audit

The Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders Importers Exporters Coalition SNFFIEC on Friday, knocked the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) over agitations for the removal of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) unit of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Recall that members of ANLCA had clamoured that the Post Clearance Audit, a unit of the Nigeria Customs Service be scrapped.

Post-clearance audit control (PCA) is defined as a measure by which customs officials can ensure the authenticity and accuracy of the declarations made prior to receiving clearance.

Speaking with newsmen in Lagos, National Coordinator, SNFFIEC, Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick maintained that the PCA is the hallmark of customs operations and must remain in furtherance to revenue collection.

Chukwu cautioned freight forwarders to always ensure transparent and honest declaration to avoid unnecessary debit notes from customs.

The group’s national coordinator harped on the need for freight forwarders and the Customs personnel to be obedient to the laws of the land in other to forge harmonious relationships and meet the objectives of any government of the day.

SNFFIEC boss noted that the relevance of the PCA cannot be over emphasised for obvious reasons, but added that they should carry out their duties in consideration of the overall business environment, growth and also the statutory duty of trade facilitation by the customs.

He said “I say no to the frivolous attack on the Post Clearance Audit (PCA) a unit of the Nigeria Customs Service by the National Executive Council members of ANLCA.

‘We do not need any attack on this particular agency of the government, what we need is to synergize with them and to encourage members of the freight forwarding community to do the needful by making honest and transparent declarations of their cargoes”.

Speaking further, he urged management of the Customs to ignore the suggestion of the ANLCA NECOM pointing out that it may be a diversionary trend.

 

“We all know that for many years now, the PCA has helped the Customs to recover tremendous amounts of lost revenues thereby proving their vital importance”.

“A better way to engage the Customs by freight forwarders is to ask that they remove those impediments to trade facilitation -unnecessary delays, alerts and the usual down time, these should be discouraged and more efficient ways adopted by the Customs in their bid to increase revenues and meet targets”.

He also advised that the Customs should learn to let certain things go and allow the PCA to follow up on them in order not to create unnecessary delay along the cargoes clearance chain.

He also asked the PCA units nationwide to stop the usual practice of calling people to Abuja to answer to all manners of real and imagined infractions as this does not augur well for business.

Primarily, the freight forwarder reiterated that there are stipulations within the tenets of the Customs and Excise Management Act as to what to do and what not to do by all parties and that compliance to the CEMA law is all inclusive as he added that the PCA is constitutionally recognised in the CEMA act.

 

By Roland Ekama