Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) has opposed some sections of the proposed Customs Service Reform Bill, citing three reasons why amendment to give the Customs service powers to make regulations in free zones will weaken and subvert Nigeria’s special economic zones.
In a submission at the ongoing public hearing on the Customs Reform Bill at the House of Representatives, NEPZA said, “Free zones are areas designated as such by the president to serve as one-stop-shop investment hub wherein incentives are provided in form of tax holidays, simplified Customs and Immigration processes, amongst others, with a view to attracting investors.
“The one-stop-shop concept, in furtherance of which regulations were made for all the active free zones with the involvement of the Nigeria Customs Service and all relevant stakeholders, would be eroded if the provisions of the bill are allowed.”
This was contained in a statement on Thursday signed by Mr. Martins Odeh, Head, Corporate Communications, NEPZA.
Odeh added, “By providing regulations for the free zones, the Nigeria Customs Service would besetting a dangerous precedent, as other agencies would want to do same.”
The authority in its response also held that the development if not nipped in the bud would result in either multiple regulations that might be contradictory, thereby creating avoidable legal tussles or make registration of enterprises unnecessarily cumber some and unattractive.
The authority further submitted that“the proposed sections of the bill which seek to make the Free Zones Customs- Controlled Zones invariably seek to create antithetical Free Zones Customs Territory alien to the global free trade zone model used around the world.
“Dangote Free Zone, anational asset, is a zone with enormous prospects for Nigerian economy.
“With the heightened insecurity in Nigeria amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of new bureaucratic bottlenecks such as the proposed legal framework would only scare away investors and retard the free trade zone scheme.
“Bureaucratic bottlenecks have been identified as one of the reasons for Nigeria’s low ranking on the World Trade Organisation’s index of Ease of Doing Business.
“The free zone scheme, therefore, seeks to tackle the problem of corporate investments characteristic by bureaucratic challenges, multiple taxation, conflicting regulations,” the authority said.
