The Federal Government has unveiled guidelines for the implementation of the “Zero Percent Duty Rate and Value Added Tax” exemption on certain basic food items.
In a statement issued Wednesday (yesterday, August 14) in Abuja, Spokesperson of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Abdullahi Maiwada said that President Bola Tinubu approved the guidelines through Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, had on July 8 announced the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes on certain imported food items, including maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas.
Disclosing that the policy, which took effect from July 15, will remain in place until December 31, Miawada explained that the guidelines are, among others:
1) Only companies incorporated in Nigeria and operational for at least five years are eligible to participate in the zero-duty importation of the staples.
2) The company must have filed annual returns and financial statements and paid taxes and statutory payroll obligations for the past five years.
3) Companies importing husked brown rice, grain sorghum, or millet need to own a milling plant with capacity of at least 100 tonnes per day, operated for at least four years, and have enough farmland for cultivation.
4) Those importing maize, wheat, or beans must be agricultural companies with sufficient farmland or feed mills/agro-processing companies with an out-grower network for cultivation.
Maiwad disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Finance would periodically provide the service with a list of importers and their approved quotas to facilitate the importation of the staples within the policy’s framework, adding that the policy requires that at least 75 percent of imported items must be sold through recognised commodity exchanges, with all transactions and storage recorded.
“Companies must keep comprehensive records of all related activities, which the government can request for compliance verification,” the Customs spokesman emphasized.
“If a company fails to meet its obligations under the import authorisation, it will lose all waivers and must pay the applicable VAT, levies, and import duties.
“This penalty also applies if the company exports the imported items in their original or processed form outside Nigeria.”
He, however, said that while the policy is a temporary measure aimed at addressing the current economic hardships, it does not undermine the long-term strategies put in place to safeguard local farmers and protect manufacturers.
The previous duty rates and levies on husked rice stood at 30 per cent , beans 20 per cent, wheat 20 per cent, while millet, maize and grain sorghum stood at five per cent each.
