Abuja: The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has granted 223 importers a 21-day grace period to regularise their Temporary Admission Permits (TAPs). The Spokesman of the service, Abdullahi Maiwada, announced this development in a statement on Friday.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the grace period is set to commence on Monday, July 28. The NCS revealed that its recent compliance checks identified 223 companies that failed to meet the conditions stipulated under the TAP regime. The defaults reportedly amount to a total bond value of approximately ?380 billion.
The 21-day grace period serves as a final opportunity for the affected importers to rectify their importation status. At the end of this period, the NCS plans to initiate enforcement actions, which could include invoking bonds, imposing penalties, and pursuing legal proceedings. The service has urged these importers to act promptly, either by applying for a valid extension, re-exporting items under customs supervision, or converting goods to home use, subject to appropriate duty payments.
The NCS emphasized that temporary importation is a regulated concession under both international and national customs frameworks, such as the Revised Kyoto Convention (RKC) and Sections 142 to 144 of the NCS Act, 2023. This framework permits the temporary admission of goods without full duty payment, provided the goods are re-exported within a specified timeframe without alteration beyond normal depreciation.
The NCS further stated that the importers in question have neither re-exported their goods nor fulfilled the obligation of converting them to home use by paying the necessary duties. By law, all TAP beneficiaries must secure their duty exemption with bank bonds, which act as financial guarantees in case of non-compliance. Typically, TAPs are granted for 12 months and can be extended by another year, with a special consideration for an additional six-month extension plus a final six-month grace period.
Failure to comply after these periods is considered a breach. Under Section 143 of the NCS Act 2023, the Nigeria Customs Service is authorized to discharge the bond value as customs duty into the Federal Government’s account if the importer fails to meet the obligations.
The NCS, led by Comptroller-General Adewale Adeniyi, remains committed to enforcing regulatory compliance, safeguarding national revenue, and maintaining the integrity of the TAP framework. It has called on stakeholders and the trading public to seize this grace period to avoid actions that could lead to sanctions.