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By Steve Agbota
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the full automation of the process of applying for managing and renewing trade licenses and permits for importers, Customs brokers, ship chandlers and other stakeholders operating in the nation’s maritime industry to ensure the ease of doing business and boost revenue generation for the government.
The NCS revealed that the License and Permit System (LPS), an online platform, is designed to simplify and standardise the process and eradicate the longstanding bottlenecks that have characterised the manual processing of trade licences and permits, leading to loss of revenue for the government and businesses.
Speaking on Monday at the zonal sensitisation programme for stakeholders on the automation of licence and permit processes held in Lagos, the Zonal Coordinator of Zone A, Mohammed Babandede, said that for many years, stakeholders have had to deal with paperwork, long queues, and the uncertainty that comes with manual processing.
According to him, under the new system, importers, shippers, exporters, clearing agents and freight forwarders will no longer need to travel to Customs offices or the headquarters in Abuja to apply for or renew licences and permits, as the entire process will be completed digitally from any location in real time.
“The automation is a direct response to the long-standing need to make the processes faster, more transparent and easier for the stakeholders.
The process automation will ensure applications are processed faster and enable stakeholders to track the status of their application in real time, in fairness, consistency and without the risk of error that comes with manual records,” he added.
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He said the sensitisation exercise, being held across all Zones, commenced with Lagos, which handles an enormous volume of trade that passes through Zone A, to ensure every stakeholder understands the new automated system before it is implemented. The Zonal Coordinator said this will ensure the modernisation projects of the NCS is successful at all levels of global trade.
Also speaking, the Comptroller of Customs, License and Permit Unit, Tarriff & Trade Department, Dr Ngozika Anozie, explained that automation of licenses and permits is critical in ensuring the ease of doing business in the maritime sector and would translate into a boost in the generation of the much-needed revenue for Customs and the Federal Government.
Anozie said the automation will minimise, if not eradicate, fraudulent practices in the system, as every single document that is uploaded in the course of this process will be automatically rejected by default, if it is fake and accepted if it is genuine.
“Ultimately, this automation will enhance the statutory revenue generation duties of the Nigeria Customs Service, because fees are paid into the coffers of government with every single licence and permit processed; imports are made with the permits, the clearing processes are stamped with the licences given and obviously, revenue is generated. So, the more licences and permits we issue or renew, the more revenue we would generate for NCS and Nigeria economy,” she said.
She said the automation will save importers and the clearing and forwarding agents the stress of acquiring or renewing their licenses and permits, as it would be done from their own comfort, as opposed to carrying loads of files from one table to another and from one office to another.
She assured all stakeholders that the automation process will be simple and seamless, noting that the bond seat officers of various Customs Area Commands have been trained before now for the process.
Anozie further assured more efficiency and productivity from the officers as they leverage the seamlessness of the process to work on more documents in minutes with greater output.
