Director Urges Removal Of Import Duty On Currency Notes Materials

The Managing Director of a shipping agency, Mr. Dayo Azeez,
has urged the Federal Government to end payment of import duty on raw materials
for the printing of currency notes.

Paper and a few other materials are imported for the
printing of currency notes.

Azeez made the call in Lagos on Thursday in an interview
with Journalists and advised government to abrogate the duty which he said was
currently as high as 20 per cent, saying bank notes were not commercial
products.

According to him, the raw materials are for a national
currency and should therefore attract zero per cent duty as finished import
currency.

Azeez, a former vice-President of the Association of
Nigerian licensed Customs Agents, said that the high duty had resulted in
demurrage on large consignments of currency notes’ raw materials running into
millions of Naira.

He also advocated the abrogation of the 20 per cent levy on
rice importation to make it affordable.

“The import duty on rice is 20 per cent of the Cost
Insurance Freight (CIF) value and at the same time you pay an additional 20 per
cent as levy and 5 per cent as VAT. So everything put together on rice is
almost 50 per cent of the CIF value.

“We are clamoring for removal of that 20 per cent levy
because it is of no reason, there is no just cause for the 20 per cent levy
because every household in Nigeria consumes rice.