Discrepancies Put Pre-shipment Inspector in Trouble
By Francis Ugwoke
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has queried one of the preshipment inspection agents, Cotecna Limited, for alleged discrepancies in the inspection of some containers of detergents.
A manufacturing firm based in Apapa, Limex Global Industries Limited, was sealed off last week by the Customs over an allegation that it imported finished detergents.
Customs Public Relations Officer, Mr. Wale Adeniyi, said that Cotecna was invited by the Customs last week to come and explain its role in the inspection of the containers believed to be from France.
The Service is also detaining 96 containers suspected to be detergents belonging to Limex although Adeniyi claimed that the containers were 34.
Under the current fiscal policy of the government, importation of detergents is prohibited.
Sources told THISDAY that contrary to the claims of the firm, the Customs discovered that the company run by Lebanese nationals has been importing finished detergents while claiming that the items were chemicals for manufacturing.
But acting on a tip-off, the headquarters of the Service sent a crack team led by an Assistant Comptroller-General, Alhaji Rabiu Adamu, last week to investigate the activities of the company.
It was gathered that following the investigation, 96 containers belonging to the firm were detained by the Service, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Adeniyi told THISDAY that the investigation was yet to be completed as at the time of filing this report.
When contacted, Cotecna's Head of Operations in Nigeria, Mr. Genning Dermon, said the policy of the company was not to answer questions on phone.
Cotecna has been faced with bad publicity in the past few months as a result of its part in some pre-shipment inspection jobs in some countries.
Our source disclosed that so far, investigations have revealed that about 75 percent of what the firm imported were finished products while 25 percent were chemicals it adds to the detergents to get them ready for use.
It was gathered that the Customs views this as a violation of the import procedure, and gave an indication that the firm may have to pay the duties for the remaining 75 percent content believed to be finished products.
Manufacturers who bring in raw materials enjoy lower duties to encourage the growth of the industries.
Efforts made to seek audience with the Managing Director of the company failed as security men and five other Lebanese nationals said he was not in the office.
The foreigners, who refused to disclose their identity, however denied that its firm, Limex, imported any finished products, claiming that what the company brought into the country were chemicals for manufacturing purposes.
It was gathered that the chief executive of the firm has been making frantic moves to settle the problem.
Another source told THISDAY that the products may have been cleared by National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC).
One of the products of the firm, "Miss Bimbo," has NAFDAC registration number.
The product was manufactured under licence for Joseph Guetta & Co. in France and packed by Limex Global in Lagos.
The Service, our source added, has sent the acclaimed imported chemicals to independent laboratories for analysis.
Adeniyi said that the company violated import rules by bringing into the country finished detergent products.
The Service has recorded a number of seizures from importers who violated import guidelines in recent times.
In 120 days of the life of the new management, the Service has recorded about 150 seizures from different ports in the country.
Among the major ones were 300 containers of scrap metals and teak wood which owners had planned to smuggle out of the country.
At the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, two plane-loads of consignments and 395 packages were seized recently.
Comptroller-General of the Service, Mr. Jacob Buba, had warned that importers who failed to follow import guidelines would be brought to book.
He warned: "The Nigeria Customs Service is now more than ever before determined to visit the full weight of the law on all the perpetrators of this criminal practice."
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