Is being five months the federal government had announced a 150-day window for free importation of food items, into the country a policy that is yet to be implemented. Recall, the federal government had on July 8, 2024, announced a 15-months duty-free import window for food commodities so as to ensure a reduction in food inflation in the country.
Accordingly, it was expected that the window ought to have elapsed on December 31, 2024, the food commodities for which the duty waiver was meant to cover; they include maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas.
Since the declaration by the government, both the government and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have kept mum on the implementation mechanism.
During the third quarter of 2024, the Customs had advised the government that it might forgo about N188.37 billion in revenue if they should go ahead with the policy for the next six months as promised.
Subsequently, the Customs in August 14, 2024 rolled out policies stating that in order to participate in the import wavier, a company must be incorporated in Nigeria and have been operational for at least five years.
It said the Ministry of Finance would periodically provide the NCS with a list of importers and their approved quotas to facilitate the importation of these basic food items within the framework of this policy.
It has become a thing of concern that the implementation of the policy is suffering a setback amidst the rising inflation on imported food items in the country.
Expert has attributed the inflation to multiple factors, which include the currency devaluation and the global supply chain disruptions.
It was learned that the average price of imported high-quality rice has surged by 144.77 per cent year-on-year.
The recent report on the Consumer Price Index by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s imported food inflation surged to 42.29 per cent in November 2024, a significant rise from 23.74 per cent recorded in November 2023, representing a 55 percentage point year-on-year increase.
According to NBS, on a month-on-month basis, imported food inflation rate skyrocketed from 40.96 per cent in October 2024, a 1.33 percentage point rise in just one month.
The data has proven that the continued rise in imported food inflation throughout 2024, which began at 26.29 per cent in January.
Subsequently, by October, the inflation rate had crossed the 40 per cent threshold, and November’s figure of 42.29 per cent is the highest recorded in the past two years.
Finance ministry responsible for importers’ identification – Customs
Dailytrust reported that the National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Aliyu Maiwada, told them that it is the duty of the Ministry of Finance to identify importers.
Maiwada said, “The federal government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, is responsible for the policy formulation and identification of designated importers for the policy whiles the Nigeria Customs implements.
“Therefore it is a gradual process and it is in progress,” he added.
However, a development expert at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Joseph Momoh, in an interview with Daily Trust yesterday, said unless the zero import duty is implemented, hunger would get worse in the country.
“The waiver was expected to target low-income households. However, it is a new year and nothing has happened. By now, the window is expected to have closed, but unfortunately, we have not even started.
“Food inflation continues to strain households, with many consumers reporting that the prices of essential items remain high.
“Currently, the price of a 50kg bag of rice, both local and foreign, is an average of N106, 000 and N120,000, respectively, higher than Nigeria’s minimum wage of N70,000. The government needs to do something,” he said. Dailytrust.
