Importers Lose Over N10bn Annually On Substandard Goods – ANLCA
The President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Iju Tony Nwabunike, at the weekend, claimed that customs brokers in the country lose over N10 billion annually on the importation of fake and substandard goods.
Nwabunike noted that this was entirely due to ignorance on the part of the customs brokers during the clearing of some imported consignments.
He said some of the consignments later turned out to be declared fake and substandard and were seized by government agencies like the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
Speaking at a one-day stakeholders sensitisation forum with the theme: “Facilitating Trade through SON’s Automated Services”, which held in Lagos, Nwabunike, noted that customs brokerage agents and freight forwarders had had to loose huge sums of money because some persons imported substandard goods and contracted them to clear the questionable consignments.
The forum was organised by SON in collaboration with the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), ANLCA and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) to provide a platform to rub minds on the need to checkmate the influx of fake and substandard goods into the country.
Nwabunike further stated that importers only gave the customs brokerage agents the bill of lading, which most of the time did not reflect the exact content in the container.
He said the only time the agents got to know what was actually in the container was when it was opened for examination, after the agent had committed huge sums, which were never refunded if the consignment was seized.
He explained that: “Over time, customs brokers have fallen prey to fraudulent importers who bring in substandard imports, and most of the time, fail to disclose to us the actual content or degree of compliance with extant rules such as SON Conformity Assessment Programmes (SONCAP).
The influx of these illicit products in addition to being injurious to our national economy also spells doom for our people.” In his remarks, the Director General of SON, Osita Aboloma, who delivered a welcome address, charged importers to desist from importing substandard products capable of maiming and killing Nigerians.
