Clearing charges skyrocket, as Vehicle importation drops by 40%

A drop of about 40 per cent has been recorded in the number of imported vehicles that came into the country between January and October this year through the Ports & Terminal Multipurpose Limited compared to the figure for the same period of the previous year.

While a total of 192,287 units of vehicles came into Nigeria in the first 10 months of 2021, only 114,159 units were imported through the same terminal in the same period in 2022. The terminal is responsible for the importation of most vehicles coming Nigeria.

A document obtained by The Punch from the Customs Public Relations Officer in charge of the PTML terminal, Muhammad Yakubu, showed that from January to October 2022, only 122 vessels berthed at the ports as against 167 vessels recorded within the same period in the previous year.

The document also showed that the terminal recorded a total number of 30,560 containers in the first 10 months of 2021 as against 24,181 recorded in a similar period of the current fiscal year. These figures showed a serious drop in activities in the terminal, which is known to be a Roll-On-Roll-Off terminal in Nigeria where almost 85 per cent imported vehicles coming into the country come through.

Clearing agents operating at the nation’s maritime industry have blamed inconsistent government policies and the newly introduced Vehicles Identification Number for clearing of imported vehicles as reasons behind the decrease.

The PTML chapter Chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr Thomas Alor, also blamed the levy imposed on imported cars by the government for the decline, adding that the VIN was not giving them the value they paid for.

He said, “The levy, which they imposed on imported used cars, is what is affecting car importation. What is causing the drop in importation of vehicles is the value in clearance. The VIN valuation is not giving us the value, which we are paying now.

“What made the value high is because of the levy imposed on older vehicles; it is the reason for the high cost of clearance of those vehicles. When we started the VIN valuation, we were paying normal duty with the percentage of the duty until the government now imposed levies on old vehicles, which now increased the prices.”

Though he admitted that the levy had been there before now, Alor, however, said it was not up to five per cent as against the 15 per cent the clearing agents were now being asked to pay.