Revised Import Regulation in Nigeria
Following the circular by the Federal Ministry of Finance ref. F.194600/TR/IG/1/174 dated April 11, 2017.
Please note that the review has incorporated the following measures approved by the Minister of Finance to ensure effectiveness and efficiency of the operations of the Destination Inspection Scheme (DIS):
(A) Additional responsibilities for Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) :
NCS shall coordinate the Mandatory Joint Examination and sign-off Form within the official working hours, including Saturdays ;
iv. NCS shall make available the Shipping Manifests to other examination Agencies as soon as they are received to enable enough time for Risk Assessment;
v. Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) should be strengthened to accomodate more Agencies.
(B) Additional Responsibilities for Shipping Lines:
i. Shipping Lines shall transmit to the NCS and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) the cargo manifest before leaving the last Ports of call to Nigeria;
ii. Shipping Lines shall ensure that Nigeria bound containerized cargo are palletized.
(C) New Section(G), which states responsibilities of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).
(D) Sanctions against erring shipping lines and other Carriers:
iii. Shipping Lines and other carriers that failed to adhere strictly to palletized containerized cargo shall be asked to take back on-board the non-palletizes cargo;
iv. Shipping Lines and other carriers that fail to transmit Shipping Manifest shall be denied berthing right and pilotage by NPA.
(E) Three Months grace period before commencement of implementation of the revised Import Guidelines after the Launch ans Sensitization ;
(F) Sensitization of the trading public on the revised Import Guidelines to be conducted by the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Technical Commitee on Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) in the six (6) Geo-political Zones of the Country.
Implementation date for this instruction is arrival in any Nigerian port on July 11, 2017.
Please check with the authorities if you require additional information on this regulation.