From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Stakeholders in the import sub-sector have proposed some amendments to the Customs and Excise Management Bill, currently before the House of Representatives.
The amendments, contained in a letter addressed to the Chairman, House Committee on Customs, Leke Abejide, signed by the representatives of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders ( NAGAFF).
Other signatories to the letter include Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), Nigeria Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC ) and the National Council of Managing Directors. of Licensed Customs Agents ( NCMDLCA).
The stakeholders noted that after a joint meeting, the five associations resolved to present a joint position on the proposed legislation, especially on some clauses they considered obnoxious.
The associations said they considered it a moral obligation suggest to the parliament to correct or expunge specific “Sections, tenses considered obnoxious to international convention on trade, ease of doing business in Nigeria and contravention of Administration of Criminal Justice Act, LFN 2005 and global best practices in the proposed Customs and Excise Management Act”.
Parts of the proposal of the associations include that “Section 8 SS 3(a) The Board shall consist of:-