By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, as well as the Nigeria Customs Service, have urged importers to take advantage of the automated Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC).
The Minister of Finance, Mr Zainab Ahmed, said this on Thursday during a sensitisation seminar in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The Finance Minister said the new automated platform will reduce the amount of time spent on processing import duty exemption request, promote transparency and eliminate undue human interference, as well as other challenges associated with the manual process.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Titilola Kuna, the Minister noted that with the scope of the request for import duty waiver expanding, there is no better time than now to have modern technology to drive import duty concession.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Hameed Ali, who was represented by the Zonal Coordinator in charge of Zone C, Mr Elton Irele, said the new platform will eradicate abuse of import duty exemption and forgery of signature by fraudulent persons in the import business.
Mr Ali said despite the commitment of the federal government to achieving a more viable economy, some importers have abused the opportunities created for them to thrive, through import duty exemption.
Mr Ali assured that the Nigeria Customs Service will ensure the success of the new digitised platform.
The IDEC platform, which is simply accessible at www.idec.gov.ng or www.idec.ng, was designed to eliminate the challenges associated with applying for an IDEC which usually takes between 30 – 60 days but is now obtainable within just three days.
It has a solid electronic document management system that manages all documents verifications, thereby reducing the processing time to obtaining an IDEC approval.
Dipo Olowookere