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Fed Govt to establish National Single Window at port

The Federal Government is set to establish a National Single Window (NSW) platform at port, to facilitate international trade, end arbitrary charges, under-the-table payments and boost revenue generation from the non-oil sector.

Lack of implementation of a single window platform is reportedly costing Nigeria N1.08 trillion revenue yearly.

The decision to establish a single window platform was disclosed yesterday, by the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi during his interview on Arise TV monitored by our correspondent.

President Bola Tinubu, Adeniyi said,  came under the mantra of renewed hope of rebuilding the economy, giving hope to Nigerian economic prosperity and the issues of port competitiveness and port efficiency among others.

On the directive by the Minister of Finance that import duty on steel and electric vehicles be removed, he said that “the Customs is going to implement all fiscal policies directed by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“There are a number of other directives meant to engineer development in the various sectors of the economy. One of them is the removal of 7 per cent VAT on LPG gas, amongst others. This is all part of the effort that the government is taking to revive our economy, and Customs, as an agency of the government, has no choice but to implement and also communicate this to Nigerians to make people understand the rationale behind such policies.”

Speaking further during the interview, Adeniyi restated the Federal Government’s plan to establish a national single window (NSW) at the ports to facilitate quick clearance and export of goods.

The promise to establish a NSW is coming six years after the Buhari administration pledged (in 2018), at different fora to create the platform but failed to do so before it left the office last year

Adeniyi however, said, the policy advisory documents enunciated by the Tinubu administration was very clear on some of the directions which the government wanted to go and that the Nigeria Customs Service "is very happy to align to some of this and very  key among these is the introduction of the single window technology to drive operations in the port. "

The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Adeniyi said, "has been very clear on this particular initiative."

Adeniyi added that the Tinubu administration has a long-term, strategic port planning system that would ensure that the seaports provide adequate capacity to meet the demands of major stakeholders, operators, port users and their alliance partners in sizeable blocks of volume.

"We are going to implement this single window policy and other fiscal policies directed by federal government of Nigeria. There are a number of other directives along this line meant to engineer development in the various sectors that are critical for economic recovery programme and of course you remember the removal of seven per cent VAT. VAT on LPG gas and all of that, these are all parts of efforts which government is taking to revive our economy and the Custom as agency, we don’t have any choice than to implement. We have the obligation to communicate things and let Nigerians understand the rationale behind some of these policies and how fascinated is there implementation," Adeniyi assured.

Government, it was learnt, is losing about 30 per cent of its revenue to the arbitrary charges,  under-the-table payments and the huge number of uncleared goods at the ports based on the lack of National Single Window platform.

To become African maritime hub, some of the stakeholders who spoke in a separate interview with the  The Nation after listening to Adeniyi were unanimous that the country needs a single window platform to deliver the highest value in terms of efficiency, quality, reliability of service and remain competitive in the international market.

Nigeria, one of the stakeholders and maritime lawyer Dr Dipo Alaka said, remains the only country without a single-window platform in Africa in an age where information technology drives every process.

The country he said has continued to trail behind other African nations in the automation of processes at the seaports and urged the government to implement the NSW initiative.

A single window, according to him, "is an organic mixture of parties in a nation’s international trade. It uses the latest information communications technology (ICT) techniques, international data and messaging standards together with simplified, harmonised and remodelled information systems for data exchange to replace traditional paper-based information.

"Implementation of a single window system enables international (cross-border) traders to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity. Such documents are typically customs declarations, applications for import/export permits, and other supporting documents, such as certificates of origin and trading invoices," Alaka said.

Another stakeholder and former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents ( ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu said,  the National Single Window is the ultimate in port operation. "But it must be multi-agencies integrated for it to be successful.

"The bottleneck created by the individual Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (‘NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), various terminal operators, shipping firms and other government agencies at ports and border stations must be dismantled by the Federal Government so that they can align their various e-platforms to the NSW platform," Shittu said.

A senior official of the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMoT), who craved anonymity, said the Federal Government would generate additional $800 million yearly from the ports and border stations if government agencies key into the SW initiative.

The official urged the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to compel all approved government agencies at the ports to key into the platform to facilitate trade and generate more revenue. He also urged the National Assembly to back the initiative with a law.

Courtesy: The Nation