The Nigeria Customs Service has assured it would begin implementation of waiver of taxes on imported food items and drugs by next week.
The Comptroller-General of Customs Bashir Adeyini, announced this on Tuesday at a joint press briefing by service chiefs and heads of security agencies at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.
The Customs boss said the delay in the implementation of the tax waiver after President Bola Tinubu directive last week was due to delay in the implementation guidelines from the Ministry of Finance.
Adeniyi said: “One of the things that the President has done is to reduce the cost of food to reduce the effects of inflation by suspending customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time. We believe that when this is implemented it will help to reduce prices of food items in the market.
“The Nigeria Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government. But we need to be very careful in implementation of this policy, and this is why the guidelines for implementation are being meticulously worked out at the Ministry of Finance.
“We must address the interest of all the stakeholders, because most of these food items are going to enjoy duty waivers and concessions are also being cultivated locally. And so there is the interest to strike.
“There is the issue of striking a balance between the interest, the long term interest of nigerian farmers, nigerian stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items and the short term interest of addressing food inflation.
“So the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next one week these guidelines will be ready and Nigeria customs would begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies.”
The Customs boss therefore urged Nigerians to be a little patient for the policy to take off, assuring that prices of food items would come down.
