Customs announces 4-month grace period for clearing overtime consignments
Customs announces 4-month grace period for clearing overtime consignments
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has granted a 120-day grace period to importers with overtime consignments, allowing them to clear their goods without incurring additional costs.
This move is aimed at easing the clearance process and reducing congestion at the ports.
Importers are advised to take advantage of this window to regularize their documents and clear their consignments, the NCS said.
It urged importers to comply with the deadline to avoid forfeiting their goods to the Federal Government.
This development is expected to boost trade facilitation and improve the overall efficiency of the customs clearance process.
Under the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA, a cargo is an overtime if the importer fails to clear it after 120 days of arrival at the port. All overtime cargo are subject to seizure.
Cargo exceeding 30 days, according to the newly introduced automation of overtime cargo and clearance system, would be considered “overtime” but may still be cleared within an additional 30 days after application and approval by the relevant Customs Area Controller (CAC).
Where a consignment remains undeclared within 60 days, clearance would require approval from the Assistant Comptroller General/Zonal Coordinator upon application.
This clearance opportunity would be valid within 90 days from arrival, but an additional 30-day grace period is given within which it would require approval from Customs Headquarters, upon application.
However, customs would commence the disposal process for consignments not cleared within 120 days.
Speaking at a Sensitization Exercise with Stakeholders on the automation of overtime cargo and clearance system, the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, explained that more than half of the complaints he receives daily are related to overtime cargoes congesting Nigerian ports.
Adeniyi disclosed that overtime cargoes are a significant challenge, with some cases dating back nearly 15 years, adding that despite collecting N6.3 trillion in revenue in 2024, less than 1% came from overtime cargo sales.
The Customs boss stressed that the Service’s goal is not revenue from auction sales but efficient port operations.
“We are more interested in exiting the cargoes from the ports rather than having them as overtime,” he remarked.
On deliberate cargo abandonment, Adeniyi warned; “We know some people exploit the system. Our intelligence units will stay alert, and we will not allow criminals to hijack this process.”
Also speaking, the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, Isah Umar, described the automated system as a defining moment that would break long-standing barriers in the management and disposal of overtime cargo.
He said the dynamic nature of port operations made it necessary to constantly review and upgrade clearance procedures to align with emerging technologies and global best practices.
Umar noted that the repeal of the old Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) and the enactment of the NCS Act 2023 had created a fresh mandate for the Service to modernize its overtime cargo procedures.
“This end-to-end automation is not just a reform; it is a transformation that demands active collaboration between Customs and stakeholders across the import and export sectors,” he said.
He listed the benefits of the automated system to include greater transparency, improved data integrity, elimination of bottlenecks, reduced human interference, and harmonized documentation.
On his part, General Manager, Ports and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML), Mr. Babatunde Keshiro recommended that the automated system should be structured in a way that prevent deliberate jettisoning of goods at port for overtime to invade import duty and other port charges.
He, however, assured that PTML will continue to partner with the NCS in ensuring the new automated system works perfectly, even as he added that the new system should be institutionalized.
