Wednesday 9 April 2014

Customs Issues Ultimatum To Importers/Agents Over Un-rectified PAAR

...May Clamp Down On Licenses
 
Even as the Nigeria Customs Service has recently announced an upgrade in its transmitting networks on the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), the service has equally warned that importers and their agents who are yet to perfect their PAAR to do so, or risk their licenses being blocked.
An ultimatum issued by the customs headquarters, sighted by Shipping Position Daily at the ports yesterday warned that importers who have not perfected their unused PAAR to do so on or before April 14th 2014.
It will be recalled that, at the wake of the PAAR scheme, last year, the customs had released several consignment based on 'provisional release' in order to avoid port congestion.
The Post Clearance Audit Unit of the customs has however said that the PAAR's are out now but many beneficiaries of the pre-release scheme have failed to come and perfect their unused PAAR.
Briefing our correspondent on the development yesterday, image maker of PTML customs; Steve Okonmah confirmed that importers who fail to show up to regularise their PAAR may have their practicing licenses blocked.
Apart from these, a document signed by Okonmah and sighted by Shipping Position Daily further stated that the customs headquarters has directed that any importer or agent who has not received his PAAR as at 30th of March 2014 should direct his bank to re-upload all their documents to the newly upgraded PAAR platform.
"If this is done, your PAAR will be received in less than 48hours" the statement said.
"You are supposed to have PAAR, but because the PAAR was not out and we don't want demurrage to be accruing, we used provisional release, but now that the PAAR is out, some people have seen it, but because of the difference in what they ought to have paid which they under-declared, they don't want to come out"
"Some of them have their PAAR but they still come forward to demand for provisional approval"
"It is the Post Clearance Audit that is working on this, the consignment has gone out, but when the PAAR now came out, the true picture of the information they were suppose to give us came out, if the man was suppose to pay 50, 000 before and he paid 20,000, they will be called to come and balance up" Okonmah explained
"If those that suppose to normalize their PAAR don't do so, definitely, action will be taken against them, they might loose their license" he said

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