The Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), Tin Can Island Command, has rolled out new wood export guidelines, saying only semi-treated and fully processed wood products would be exported through its terminal.
Speaking with stakeholders in Lagos recently, the Customs Area Comptroller at the Tin-Can Island Command, Mr. Yusuf Bashar said that it had to sensitise the business community particularly exporters on the need to ensure that only exportable wood products are brought in to the port, adding that anything short of what the law permits, will be confiscated.
Bashar also said that the command had to bring in officials of the Federal Environment Protection Agency, (FEPA) to assist the Customs in explaining and showing to exporters difference between treated and untreated wood products.
He explained that exports do not attract any duty, adding that in the light of falling oil price, government was trying to encourage Nigerians to export as much as they can with a view to repatriating foreign currencies back home.
“It is an incentive to encourage export because it is assumed that money will come to government based on exportable products from Nigeria especially now that Nigeria is having challenges with crude oil.
Oil price per barrel is going down, it is our major foreign exchange earner so Nigerians must be encouraged to export as much lawful products as possible.
“At a point, we asked ourselves how we can encourage exports from our end, we thought that the best way to do that was to sensitise the people and tell what products are allowed by law.
“We took wood products as the first item amongst exportable products because it attracts a lot of attention.
“The need for the campaign became imperative due to the seeming confusion emanating from the export of wood products as almost every container with wood export despite the status, is considered contraband by the uninformed.
“So we met exporters of wood products, freight forwarders of wood exporters, our own Customs personnel and any interested members of the public and let them know the categories of wood that are lawfully exportable”. He said
According to Bashar, other government agencies that approved such exports were also invited to tell exporters what is called processed and semi processed woods.
He opined that the more there is communication, the higher the compliance level adding that unprocessed wood is banned from export.
At the meeting with stakeholders, he disclosed the samples of processed, semi processed and unprocessed wood products were shown to exporters warned that he would not want to see unprocessed wood products in the command.
He further explained that he will ensure that the four policy thrust of the Customs management will be implemented to to the letter adding that the agency must facilitate trade as much as possible so as to make the ports attractive.
He noted that the ignorance of the law by port users has been the most challenging task he had faced since assumption of duty.
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