The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Port Harcourt Area ll Command, Onne Port, reported that it generated N115.26 billion revenue between January and June this year
A statement issued at the weekend by the command’s spokesperson, Mrs. Ifeoma Ojekwu, quoted the Area Comptroller, Mr. Auwal Mohammed, as saying that the collections in the six-month period represented 47 percent increase over the N78.17 billion generated in the corresponding half year 2021 and 147 percent higher than the N46.67 billion generated in the same period of 2020.
The Comptroller further stated that the command’s revenue collection showed improvements on monthly basis as reflected in the cumulative differences recorded from half year 2020 to the first half of this year.
On anti-smuggling and enforcement carried out by the command, Mohammed disclosed that during the period under review, the command made 28 seizures, comprising nine containers, with a Duty Paid Valued at N531.39 million.
According to him, among the seized items were machetes, military wear, vegetable oil, whisky, soap, used clothing, used tyres, foreign parboiled rice, tomato paste, used vehicle parts and other items, either classified as prohibited or for which duty payments were being evaded.
Mohammed hinted that the export volume and value of goods through the command’s operational area totaled 876,775.60 metric tonnes with $495,384,221.99 free on board (FOB), value, translating to N203,969,499,562.18 and Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) value of N1,075,060,914.52 were processed through the command in the period under review.
He stated: “The 2022 export statistics showed an improvement on the 2021 figures which is a fallout of my trade facilitation strategies.
“Comparatively, as of June 2021, the command processed 331,356.40 metric tonnes, with free on board (FOB) value of $141,422,075.87. The FOB value in naira was N58,229,125,518.73 with NESS value of N260,150,300.13,” the Comptroller added.
Mohammed, who also spoke on the recently approved Domestic Export Warehouse (DEW) at Onne,
expressed optimism that the DEW would create opportunities for exporters to process and package their exports and enable them to warehouse export cargo directly to vessels.
He pointed out that in order to ensure that all exports comply with the regulatory standards, the command, in collaboration with other relevant agencies would ensure that due diligence is conducted in the DEW facility.
