‘Govt yet to issue import guidelines’

A member of the Presidential Task Force on Customs Reform, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, has said the government has yet to issue a circular on import guidelines.

In a interview with our correspondent, Amiwero blamed the poor economic performance of the seaports on the absence of import guidelines and fiscal policies.

He called on the government to come out with comprehensive import guidelines in order to steer the economy out of recession.

He said, “As it is presently, Nigeria does not have an economy policy. No circular has been issued concerning what our import guidelines are. This is why people are not in business at the moment. If you go to the ports, nothing is happening.

“Government should come out with a comprehensive review. They should be able to say what can or cannot be imported and the incentives they plan to give. All these should be documented and released based on section 32 of the pre-shipment inspection Act of 1996.”

Amiwero called on the government to define its policies to enable investors to decide if they would go into manufacturing or importation.

He also said, “Monetary policies are controlled by the CBN and often concern two issues: the publication of foreign exchange and the management of foreign exchange.

“Under section 36 of the Customs and Excise Management Act, it is the Ministry of Finance that is in charge of managing fiscal policies. It is not enough to say 41 items will not have access to forex; have they been banned from importation? If you want to access foreign exchange, you are told you can’t. You are told you can’t import certain items. We cannot continue to wait. We are already going into the second year.”

He urged the Finance ministry to reveal its fiscal policies and import guidelines that would guide investors on the possible areas of investment.