... As Comptroller Yusuf Congratulates Grimaldi on Berthing of 'MV Great Lagos'
ZAINAB JUNAID
The Port Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML) Command of Nigeria Customs Service has collected a total of N234,340,789,594 as revenue as at November 30,2023 thus surpassing the November 2022 collection of N213,405,461,873 by N20,935,327,721 which represents a 9.8% increase.
Comptroller Saidu Abba Yusuf, Customs Area Controller(CAC) of the Command, who disclosed this shortly after a reception ceremony for 'MV Great Lagos, a Grimaldi owned Roll on Roll off(RoRo) vessel, expressed optimism in meeting the 2023 total revenue target of the command.
The CAC said PTML officers are fully deployed to work optimally in line with the assurances they gave to the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, when he visited the command two months ago.
He restated that compliance and transparency are key to faster cargo clearance at all times as customs officers are fully mobilised to conduct joint examination from 9am to 4pm with sister government agencies to avoid the delays associated with seperate examinations by the individual agencies.
To him, the command is a model in many areas including a record breaking three hour RoRo cargo clearance time where there is hundred percent compliance.
He added that the feat is sustainable and has contributed to the achievement of adequate terminal space devoid of congestion in PTML.
Speaking on the visit of 'MV Great Lagos', a ship with space to carry 2500 vehicles and 2000 containers, 2500 general cargo and equipments, the CAC noted that the development shows the capacity of the command to receive and process increased number of imported cargoes
He thus congratulated the Grimaldi Group for the feat, and advised all port users and stakeholders to be compliant at all times as a way to enjoy the lawful benefits of trade facilitation and ease of doing business.
His words, "Since my arrival, I have been saying a lot of things about the advantages of being compliant. Once you are compliant, you won't experience any delay in cargo clearance. When you declare exactly what you have, and when you pay exactly what you are supposed to pay as your duties we won't delay you. The fastest we have done so far in terms of time release is about 3 hours.When a consignee or a declarant declares exactly what he has, examination is quickly conducted and release is quickly done. Within 3 hours, your cargoes are out.We don't have any cause to hold on to any cargo as long as the compliance level is 100 percent.
"The most important thing, as I always say, is compliance and transparency.When you talk about the harmonization of process, standardization of process, simplification of process, all these entails that there must be transparency. Once there is transparency, it makes our job easier and the issue of interventions, infractions will be limited and the time release will be so fast.The moment the time release is fast, it attracts more businesses in line with World Customs Organisation tenets which all customs administration are trying to key into."
