Bashir Adeniyi, the Nigeria Customs Service‘s comptroller general (CG), said the duty remission on imported foods will be enforced within the next week.
Adeniyi spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at a news conference organised by Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), at the Defence Headquarters.
On July 10, the federal government announced the suspension of levies, tariffs, and taxes on food imports to curb inflation.
Adeniyi stated that the duty waiver has not been applied since the Ministry of Finance is still developing the guidelines.
He said:
“But I also like to remind Nigerians that we need to be very, very careful in implementation of this and this is why the guidelines for implementation is being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance.”
Adeniyi stated that it is important to understand what the intervention implies for local markets because the majority of the food commodities that benefit from tax waivers and discounts are also grown by Nigerian farmers.
He stated that the federal government is working to satisfy the interests of all stakeholders.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the long-term interest of Nigerian farmers and stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short-term interest of addressing food inflation.”
“So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs will begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies.”