FAQs

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CALCULATION OF IMPORT DUTY

Payment of import duties, 7% surcharge, 1% administrative charge, 0.5% ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme(ETLS), and 5% VAT are to be made through one of the banks designated by the Federal Government for the Customs Area of Importation. This can be done by bank draft or by bank transfer.

Example with 20% import duty:

– FOB value = 80.00
– Freight = 20.00
– CIF = 100.00

Import duty – 20% on CIF	20.00
7% surcharge on duty	1.40
0.5% TLS levy on CIF value	0.50
1% CISS fee on FOB	0.80
2% NAC levy on CIF (or others, if applicable)	2.00
5% VAT on all above + CIF	6.24
Total payable to Customs	30.94
Landed cost of item in Nigeria	130.94

 

To enhance the monitoring of the import duty scheme, Shipping lines and Airlines are requested by law to always state the Form M and CRI Number for each consignment on the ship’s/aircraft’s manifest and on the bill lading or airway bill for all import shipment to Nigeria before such manifest are submitted to the Nigeria Customs Service Department.

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PreShipment Inspection Scheme – Form M & Bulk Form M

Requirement by the Nigerian importer to open a Form M:

The supplier’s proforma invoice showing description of goods, quantities and their measurements, FOB unit price, total FOB cost, total freight, total CFR, country of origin and country of supply. The importer has to also establish Nigerian Marine Insurance for the goods as required by Nigerian Law.

A Form M is usually issued for a particular supply contract and allows for part shipments. For large project, a Bulk Form M can be issued, which allows continuous part shipments throughout the validity of the Form M. A Form M is valid for six(6) months and can be extended once for another period of six(6) months.

The importer will fill in a Form M valid for valid for foreign exchange(Confirmed and Unconfirmed L/C or Bill for Collection) or he will use a Form M not valid for foreign exchange(alternative financing arrangement where no money transfer from Nigeria to foreign through the central bank is involved).

The importer submits the Form M and proforma invoice to his commercial bank in Nigeria. Once accepted, the bank will dispatch the Form M to the Lagos office of the Pre-shipment Inspection Agent(PSIA) appointed by the Nigeria Government for the country of supply indicated on the Form M.

The PSIA will carry out a preliminary price verification and distribute copies of the Form M to the central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), the Nigeria Customs Service, the National Maritime Authority(NMA) – for seafreight and to the importer through his bank. One complete set of documents will be sent by electronic data transfer to the PSIA’s overseas office in charge of the country of supply.

The PSIA’s office overseas will then send out a Request For Inspection(RFI) to the supplier, physically inspects the cargo and carry out the final price verification. Within 72 hours after inspection, the supplier must submit his original final commercial invoice to the PSIA. The PSIA will apply the financial seal on the invoice, which becomes the negotiable documents for L/C and other money transfer purpose from Nigeria.
The supplier sends other documents required for import customs clearance to the importer which are Original B/L or AWB, C16, copy final invoice, and packing list.

NOTE: All goods irrespective of their nature, size or volume are subject to the pre-shipment inspection procedure including samples and humanitarian aid shipments.

Exempted from pre-shipment inspection are personal effects, some perishables, used vehicles, cargo destined to OnneIkpokiri Oil & Gas Free zone(For registered importers only) while Diplomatic goods and goods imported under Temporary Importation are exempted from both Form M and the pre-shipment inspection procedures.

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Documents required for ASYCUDA registration

–	Copy of tax clearance certificate
–	Copy of certificate of incorporation
–	Letter of authorization from importer to RONISH authorizing processing on his behalf

Documents required for NAFDAC registration of Food & Pharmaceutical products.

–	Application letter addressed to the Director General , National Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) including the list of items to be imported.
–	Original 3 years tax clearance certificate of the company for sighting and one photocopy.
–	Original importer’s certificate of incorporation for sighting and one photocopy.
–	One certified true copy of importer’s memorandum and articles of association and original for sighting.
–	One certified true copy of particulars of directors Form CO 7 / Business permit where applicable and original for sighting.
–	Certificate of manufacture & free sales issued by government regulatory body of country of origin and authenticated by Nigerian embassy.
–	Certificate of analysis issued by the manufacturer showing chemical and microbiological data.
–	Certificate of radiation issued by government regulatory body of country of origin and authenticated by Nigerian embassy.
–	Two(2) cartons of product as samples, carrying following information such as production date, expiry date, batch No., net weight, full address of manufacturer( Not P.O. Box), list of ingredients, and storage condition.
–	Application must be signed by importer’s managing director or technical officer.

Documents required for NEPA Generator import permit.

–	Original importer’s certificate of incorporation for sighting and one photocopy.
–	Original 3 years tax clearance certificate of the company for sighting and one photocopy.
–	Original importer’s VAT registration certificate from Federal Inland Revenue office for sighting and one photocopy.
–	PROFORMA Invoice indicating the quantity, type, make, rating, country of origin and cost of the generating set to be imported.

Documents required for obtaining NAFDAC permit to import industrial and laboratory chemicals.

–	Application letter addressed to the Director General, National Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) including the list of chemicals, the quantity required and the uses for which chemicals are intended.
–	Original 3 years tax clearance certificate of the company for sighting and one photocopy.
–	Original importer’s certificate of incorporation for sighting and one photocopy.
–	One certified true copy of importer’s memorandum and articles of association and original for sighting.
–	One certified true copy of particulars of directors form CO 7 / Business permit where applicable and original for sighting.
–	One photocopy of used permit returns showing importations in previous (Not required for initial application).
–	Material safety data sheets of chemicals where necessary, specific chemical names must be given.
–	Application must be signed by importer’s MD or Technical officer.

 

NIGERIAN PORTS AND AIRPORT

NIGERIAN SEAPORTS

 

The Nigerian Seaports are divided into Western Operations with headquarters at Apapa comprising the following ports:

– Apapa Port Complex
– Tin Can Island Port
– Ro-Ro Port
– Container Terminal
– Inland Container Depot

And Eastern Operations with headquarters at Port-Harcourt comprising of the following ports:

– Port-Harcourt Port
– Federal Lighter Terminal
– Federal Ocean Terminal
– Calabar Port
– Warri Port
– Sapele Port
– Koko Port
– Burutu Port
There are four(4) major international airports through which goods can be imported into Nigeria. These are:

– MurtalaMuhammed Airport, Lagos
– Port-Harcourt International Airport, Port-Harcourt
– Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja
– Aminu Kano Airport, Kano

SHIPPING LINES AND LOCAL AGENTS

 

	Shipping Lines	Local Agent in Nigeria
1.	Gold Star Line Ltd	Lagos And Niger Shipping Agencies Ltd (LANSAL)
2.	Bacoliner	Brawal Shipping (Nig) Ltd
3.	Clipper Lines Ltd	COMET Shipping Agencies Nig Ltd
4.	COSCO Container Line	SDV
5.	CMA CGM	Hull-Blyth (Formally Elder Dempster Agencies)
6.	Grimaldi Group	RORO Oceanic
7.	O T Africa Lines	Cross Marine Shipping
8.	Ignazio Messina & C SPA	Cross Marine Shipping
9.	K – Line	Hull-Blyth (Formally Elder Dempster Agencies)
10.	Kien Hung Shipping Company Ltd	Hull-Blyth (Formally Elder Dempster Agencies)
11.	Mitsui O.S.K	SDV
12.	Mediterranean Shipping Company, S.A (MSC)	COMET Shipping Agencies Nig Ltd
13.	MAERSK-Sealand	MAERSK Nig Ltd
14.	P & O Neddloyd Line	P & O Neddlloyd
15.	West Africa Linien-Dienste GMBH, (WAL)	Hull-Blyth (Formally Elder Dempster Agencies)
16.	Torm Line	SDV
17.	Safmarine	Safmarine
18.	Pacific International Line (PIL) PTE	Hull-Blyth (Formally Elder Dempster Agencies)
19	China Shipping Line	Panalpina World Transport (Nig) Ltd

Documents Required to Customs Clear Personal Effects:

1. AWB or Bill of Lading(endorsed to Candid Logistics Nigeria Limited);
2. Packing List(in English);
3. Passport;

 

Documents Required to Customs Clear Diplomatic cargo AWB or Bill of Lading(endorsed to Candid Logistics Nigeria Limited); Diplomatic Passport; Packing List(in English); Completed Form CC1 (endorsed by Federal Ministry of External Affairs, Federal Ministry of Finance and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Abuja respectively) for Personal Effects; Form CC3 for Vehicles/Cars endorsed accordingly as in Form CC1;

 

Documents Required to Customs Clear Personal Vehicles/Cars: Log Book indicating year of manufacture, usage period, other particulars of the vehicle.

 

Documents Required to Customs Clear Diplomatic Vehicles/Cars: Log Book indicating year of manufacture, usage period, Authority Letter to export vehicle by privileged person, Deregistration certificate of the vehicle, Letter from the Road Transport Department in the former country of Residence, Certificate of Remission of Vehicle, Completed Form CC3 which is endorsed by Federal Ministry of External Affairs, Finance and Nigeria Customs Headquarters Abuja.

 

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