The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will issue licenses to motor dealers and interested individuals who wish to operate inland bonded vehicle terminals in the country.
Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer of Customs, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
“The coming into effect of this bonded vehicle terminals apart from securing government revenue, it also provides job opportunities for our teeming youths, security is guaranteed.
“Because unlike smuggling these vehicles through the bushes across the border, which sometime you don’t even know what these vehicles carry inside the country, these vehicles are coming from the seaport properly examined, escorted into the hands of the final user.
“Today, customs is ready for this and any interested persons need to start by writing application through the area comptroller of the command where he wants to locate or site his bonded terminal.
“There is a bond, we call it bonded vehicle terminal. He will have to approach a bank and enter into a bond to the tune of N50 million.”
Attah said that the essence of the bank bond was to ensure that government revenue was secured, adding that a bond from any licensed commercial bank would be accepted by customs.
According to him, the idea to issue the licenses was due to the realisation that car parks were the major attraction of Nigerian youths and car dealers to neighbouring ports.
He said that interested persons including car dealers must have a large fenced plot of land to park cars before applying for the license.
“A conductive working environment is required with computerised system that can be connected to Customs ICT, certificate of incorporation, memorandum and article of association, current customs agent license.’’
Attah said that an audited account of the company, current tax clearance certificate, bank recommendation among others would be required to operate a vehicle terminal.
He said that with the help of a bonded terminal an operator can import vehicle from any part of the world and manifest it as vehicle destined to any terminal within the country.
The NCS spokesman said that on arrival at the seaport, customs officers would escort vehicles to the dealer’s terminal without payment of duty.
He said that the vehicles would also stay in the terminal for a period of 30 days without payment of duties.
“Customs will establish an outpost within these terminals. If any customer buys a vehicle, he will simply pay duty at the customs outpost located in that particular terminal.”
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