Committee Tackles Snags In Automotive Tarriff Policy

The Automotive Industry Policy Implementation and Monitoring Committee has discussed in details obvious setbacks in the new automotive policy, with a view of filling a report with relevant ministries to address them.

 It called on the government to cede more responsibilities to the Ministry of Trade and Investment in the policy development and implementation of relevant guidelines on vehicle manufacturing and importation. The call was made during its inaugural meeting in Abuja recently.

The ownership role of the Ministry in the newly formulated automotive policy, it said, was not adequate. It suggested that the Ministry should play more prominent role both in the review and issuance of related circulars, while the Ministry of Finance serves as a co-signatory in such letters henceforth.

 It applauded the automotive tariff policy, but noted that it would be unfortunate if the government reverses it on the slightest public outcry. It, however, noted that reversal is unlikely if the policy was transparent and all-inclusive, while acknowledging the restructuring of existing mechanisms for tariff review process.

The committee, in a communiqué, observed that the take off date of the new policy is questionable, as it makes no provision for arrival date. Faulting claim by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) that the arrival date is unnecessary since it has the capacity to trace movement of ships globally, it advised that the date should be pegged on January 28.

It also called for the review of the process and criteria of granting “automotive bona fide manufacturers status.” The National Automotive Council (NAC) and the Ministry of Finance, it said, should jointly grant the status and ensure proper yearly renewal, which should take two weeks from the date of application. “

The recommended provision to accommodate original equipment manufacturers (OEM) dealers or representative in Nigeria in the incentive scheme of concessionary fully built unit (FBU) import for the period of construction of plant was adopted. “All applicants accepted to prepare business plans with clear implementation timelines as an agreement to be executed with government. Penalty for compliance is to include refund of concessions granted.

The concessionary import is to be based on the average of their vehicle imports in the last three years.

 All vehicle importers are requested to send their vehicle import details for the last three years,” read the communiqué. The automotive manufacturers represented wanted their 2014 production plan to serve as a base of calculating the number of FBUs they will import on concessionary basis.

They promised to pay the waived levies as penalty should they fail to meet production targets. The committee asked NAC, NCS and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to ensure that the process of capturing automotive data are integrated for the purpose of integrity.

NCS is to capture vehicle identification number (VIN) on payment of duty and provide the link to NAC and FRSC while the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA) also supplies VIN of their products to NAC to be shared with FRSC.

Dealers in used vehicle requested for an inclusion in the concessions on the ground that barrier to importation would affect their businesses substantially.Guardian