By Azuka Christopher
WED 06 APRIL, 2022-theGBJournal| The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), a private sector advocacy and think tank group says the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to undertake valuation and product price benchmarking of imports and exports is a duplication of the statutory responsibility of the Nigeria Customs Service.
‘’It will create an additional regulatory compliance burden, bureaucracy and costs for the business community.’’
The Think Tank took on the CBN while reviewing Nigeria’s 2022 first quarter economic performance.
According to the CPPE, the desire of the Central Bank of Nigeria to digitalize the international trade processes, and leveraging technology normally boosts efficiency and enhances productivity.
‘’However, this initiative has generated concerns among stakeholders in the international trade process,’’ it noted.
The view of the CPPE is that the E invoice and E evaluator policy will only worsen an already bad international trade transactions process. The policy will increase transaction cost, entrench red tape, increase uncertainty, escalate business disruption, weaken investors’ confidence and heighten corruption risk. There is a strong correlation between red tape and corruption.
‘’The increasing incursion of the CBN into the trade policy space is an aberration in our economic management system and a serious cause for concern to the business community,’’ CPPE said. ‘’Issues of import valuation and classification are statutory functions of the Nigeria Customs Service, with the Finance Ministry as the supervising organ.’’
The international trade process is already characterized by enough challenges already. Investors are contending with overlapping regulation, excessive documentation, weak application of Technology, physical examination of cargo, extortion, inadequate cargo handling equipment, stifling bureaucracy, difficult transportation logistics, challenges of access to the ports and weak dispute resolution system.
‘’We should therefore be seeking to alleviate these pains, not add to it, CPPE advised.
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