Nigeria Customs VIN Valuation Still Causing Trouble in Vehicle Importation, Clearance

By DAPO OLAWUNI

On Friday 20th of May, 2022, the Nigeria Customs Service redeployed it’s highly controversial policy on vehicle clearance called; Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation. The policy had earlier been introduced in March 2022, but it met with a lot of resistance from freight forwarders.

The freight forwarders argued that VIN Valuation made the cost of clearing imported vehicles to rise by 300% and they subsequently shutdown the nations ports.

Part of their arguments at that time was that the VIN Valuation failed to put into consideration, accidented vehicles, depreciation value of the vehicles and legal notice 30 of the Nigeria Customs Service which talks about rebates.

The Nigeria Customs management after wide consultations with the freight forwarders, Importers and other stakeholders, announced that it has taken consideration of these complaints, hence the revised VIN Valuation was redeployed.

Under the new implementation, there is standard VIN and non standard VIN. The customs had directed that any vehicle with Non Standard VIN should be routed through the Customs Area Controllers. These are the categories of cars that falls under the 846 Code.

Findings by DAILY TREND showed that most vehicles that falls under the 846 are those manufactured in China, Japan and other European countries, while these under Standard VIN are majorly from United States of America.

Any importer whose vehicle falls under the Non Standard VIN is required to write a letter of application to the Customs Area Controller of the affected command, who would now direct the Valuation Officer to issue valuation on the vehicle.

This arrangement is gradually making nonsense of the entire effort of the Nigeria Customs Service and the VIN Policy.

The practicing freight forwarders have lamented that the process encouraged human contact and extortion which the service was trying to eradicate.

Secondly, the practitioners alleged that it takes several weeks before their applications get attended to by the Customs Area Controllers who now have piles of letters waiting on their desks. This is gradually causing ripples as the port and if not addressed may snowball into another crisis.

In a chat with DAILY TREND, Chairman of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) at Tin Can Island Port, Alhaji Mohammed Mojeed said that freight forwarders are disappointed at the whole process.

“We are very disappointed because what we are expecting is not what we are seeing, we don’t expect to be going through the Area Controller for the 846 because we believe that the moment you insert your VIN number, you should get the value, this was what we were told at the initial stage”

He however said the teething problems being experienced on the VIN is expected and that it would soon be a thing of the past.

“There is no new innovation that would not have a teething problem, when we started PAAR implementation the other time, that was how we went through it. With this VIN Valuation, I believe that with time, we are going to get it right.

“When it was introduced, there were lots of bottlenecks, but as I speak with you, if you go to the Controller’s office, the number of application has drastically reduced. When the pressure was too much, the Controller used his discretion to reduce the number of application on his table.

“On the issue of 846, we all know that we have to go through it if your VIN is not standard. The standard VIN vehicles are those from America, even though some of these cars still don’t have standard VIN, they still have to go through 846.

“As an agent if you want to capture and your VIN directs you to 846, automatically you have to go back to the Controller and write a letter. Such an agent must not capture that job, if you capture it, you would have a problem.

“The problem we are having with the 846 now is that we discovered that there are some value issued that are not in the customs system, customs have said they have to use artificial intelligence to get the actual price. Even the Valuation department does not know the actual value given on any vehicle because they are trying to avoid physical contact and extortion” he said

Alhaji Mojeed noted that the customs have placed a blanket value of 2013 on vehicles that are over-aged from year 2000 to year 2012. In order words, vehicles within this category are expected to pay same value as a 2013 vehicle.

“Any vehicle from year 2000 to 2012 is an underage vehicle, customs is just helping us to see how we can clear them, most of them are 846 because they cannot get the value in the system.

“In the next three months, most people would not be able to import these over-age vehicles again, and if you cannot import them, there would be no need for 846.

“Currently, why we have these challenge is because most of accidented vehicles are many inside the port and they are victims of this 846 of VIN Valuation, this is why we have congestion.
It is not easy for a vehicle that you bought with N500,000 for you to clear it with N1,350million, this is why people are groaning now” he said

Also speaking with DAILY TREND, a licensed customs agent, Mr Timothy Adebowale urged the Nigeria Customs Service to upgrade it’s system and stop the human contact still existing in the VIN Valuation process.

“Customs should try and develop the Non standard VIN, such that we would not need to write to the CAC
Sometimes when you apply to the Area Controller under the 846, the value they would issue to you would be higher than the same vehicle of same year with standard VIN.

“If the VIN Valuation works for both the standard VIN and non standard VIN without human interference, it is the best.

“There was a 2014 Lexus Jeep that I captured this morning, I paid the duty this morning and they have released this afternoon and I am taking delivery, this is because the VIN is standard.

“At this point, the customs officer cannot dictate anything to me, I can only appreciate him if I so wish.
The standard VIN has made clearance of vehicles fast and seamless” he testified.

Speaking on bottlenecks still being experienced in the system he recounted that “A vehicle bought with $21,300 but customs valuation gave me a value of $54,500 and I paid it, but on paying that value, the CPC and headquarters still placed alert on the job. I went back to the valuation officer, and he vacated the alert with his discretion

“846 is for vehicles that come from China, Japan and other European countries.
I cleared a 2021 Mercedes Benz from Dubai and it still went through the 846” he said

DAILY TREND recalls that at a stakeholders meeting held at the Apapa Customs Command on May 19th 2022, the eve of the VIN redeployment, Customs Area Controller of Apapa Customs, Compt Yusuf Malanta who hosted the program, assured that there is going to be a continuous engagement between customs and the freight forwarders over the policy.

He assured them help desk would be created in each of the commands to help resolve the teething problems that are bound to crop up, adding that there would be continuous engagement and improvement on the new valuation policy.

The team of high ranking customs officials at the event enjoined the stakeholders to take full advantage of the automated system which they said would make goods clearance procedure seamless and faster.