Customs duty imposed on $450 camera: Matters arising

On May 7, 2024, I visited the headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service in Abuja to try to find out why and how I was charged N174,981.00 as custom dues for a Canon Camera sent in from the United States of America. The camera cost $450.

Being naturally anxious about my parcel, I got to the Abuja headquarters at 8:30am. Despite all my protestations to the reception that 8:30am on a Tuesday morning was not too early, I was asked to go away and return by 10am. Though I was vexed to my bones that coming early appeared a waste of my time, it was while waiting outside the Customs headquarters, under that hot Abuja sun, that the above question crossed my mind.

One by one, as the officers and men showed up, I observed first that they were all driving in, in very sleek cars, like some celebrities going to a musical concert. Every one of the individuals that alighted from those cars did not look Nigerian of 2024. Let me tell you why: recent increments in electricity, fuel and outrageous cost of living have made it impossible for any Nigerian alive today to look that robust and as well-fed as the chaps who sauntered in as lethargically as they did.

At about 9:50 am when I returned to the reception, I was to find the place filled to the brim with visitors who had arrived much later than I did. I requested to see the PRO of the Customs but I was informed that he was away on official duties. To cut this extremely shameful story short, I met the National Deputy PRO and asked why I was billed N174, 981.00 for a camera that cost $450.

Why did they not charge me according to the weight of the parcel and under conditions that they have stipulated on their website? According to the deputy PRO, ‘you are expected to pay 20 per cent of the amount the camera was bought at prevailing exchange rate plus additional charges like CISS, Surcharge, ETLS, etcetera’ – those are his exact words. He also said that the Nigerian government imposed heavy taxes on goods not produced in Nigeria.

Though the duty document given to me has the insignia of the Nigeria Customs, signed and stamped by Customs, the PRO accused NIPOST of handing me those (now clearly) arbitrary and outrageous duties. The charges are many – redirection charge, parcel handling charge, retention fee, recall fee and trade charge. Earlier, I had made it clear to this individual that first, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) allows Nigerian and U.S. goods to interact at reciprocal duty-free levels, with a proviso that countries like Nigeria benefitting from AGOA may not undermine U.S. trade interests (which the Customs was clearly doing by imposing those high tariffs on an item from the U.S.).

One of my other questions to the deputy PRO was: if Nigeria does not want foreign goods to enter Nigeria, why are we part of AGOA, and why then are we not producing those goods we don’t want to come in here?  The Nigeria Customs Service has a CET-Tariff document on their website which stipulates costs for clearing goods and items coming in. Chapter 37, page 173 of that document indicates that all photographic items coming into Nigeria under a certain kg pay a 20 per cent ‘ID’ and a 7.5 per cent VAT.

At no point does that document (Act No. 4) indicate that my item, weighing just 2.8kg is to pay those outrageous charges – the CISS, Surcharge, ETLS, and especially the ‘etcetera’. As a matter of fact, other duties, IAT and EXC, ascribed to photographic items like mine are to have zero charges. What is even silly about the duty imposed on the camera is that it is a gift from a beloved relative.

The question now is: who imposed those charges? After collection of those (now) controversial charges, where do they end up? A Leadership Newspaper publication with the title, ‘Customs Exceeds N307 billion Monthly Revenue Target’, may indicate that these people collect these high charges because they have a ‘target’, the purpose for which is not clear at the moment. According to the Leadership publication, ‘the Customs had N3.6trillion revenue collection target for 2023. This translates to about N307 billion per month. During the first half of the year, we were practically struggling to generate a little above N200 billion. The growth amounts to 70.13 per cent increase in revenue collection’.

Therefore, it does seem that to meet this ‘target’, the Customs imposes arbitrary and outrageous duties, most of which support the very comfortable lifestyles of the people working there.

My interactions with people who know the Customs system indicate that if I did not go there through the front door, back door deals would have offered me another duty and I would pay a lesser duty – for a handsome fee.  In the words of my aunt who sent the camera: ‘people have lost trust and respect for Nigeria all over the world because of this kind of scenario. It is a shame on the current administration.’
Etemiku is Editor in Chief of Wadonor, cultural voice of Nigeria.