The Nigeria Customs Service has been instructed to begin the enforcement of a zero per cent import duty and exemption of Value-Added Tax on essential food items. This directive follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the policy.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed the approval in a letter dated August 8, 2024, which was subsequently echoed by the Nigeria Customs Service in a communication shared with our correspondent on Wednesday. Comptroller-General of the NCS, Bashir Adeniyi, quickly issued directives to staff to start implementing the new measures.
The official circular titled “Approval for the implementation of zero per cent duty rate on basic food items” specified that the approval came straight from President Tinubu. The letter, dated August 14, 2024, and signed by Deputy Comptroller-General C.K Niagwan, listed the food items affected: maize, husked brown rice, wheat, grain beans, and millet.
The policy, effective from July 15 to December 31, 2024, is limited to these specified items. The letter also highlighted that these exemptions will only apply to investors with milling capacity and a verifiable Backward Integration Programme.
Moreover, the Ministry of Finance plans to regularly update the Nigeria Customs Service with the list of approved importers and their quotas during this period to ensure proper regulation and compliance.
The Federal Government had earlier suspended duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of food/Food Imports staples on July 10 to combat rising inflation. Following this, the NCS announced on August 7 that the duty waiver would be implemented within the subsequent week.
Finance Minister Wale Edun in the initial letter indicated that this measure aimed to mitigate the high cost of food in Nigeria and would be restricted to addressing the national supply gap, determined by a ministry-appointed committee. The reduction in duty rates includes husked brown rice dropping from 30 per cent to zero, and grain sorghum, millet, and maize from five per cent to zero, while the 20 per cent levy on wheat and beans was also removed.
Importers interested in the duty waiver must demonstrate milling capacity and compliance with a verifiable Backward Integration Programme, a strategy focused on sourcing raw materials locally.
On Tuesday, Comptroller-General Adeniyi pointed out that the Federal Government stands to lose approximately N188bn in revenue due to the suspension of import duties on these food commodities. To counterbalance this, the NCS plans to designate special corridors for the expedited clearance of food imports.
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