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LUPAN Seek Customs Support Against Importers Of Substandard Lubricant
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| L-R , Executive secretary, Mr. Emeka Obidike, Comptroller General of Customs, Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde, Mr. T. O Williams MD/CEO LUbCON, MR. Isiguzo Isaac, General Manager Operations Dozzy, and Mr. Naths S. Abimeji JP (executive director. CHICASON GROUP, during the visits to customs office in Abuja, recently |
Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN) in their continuous effort to ensure the sanitisation of the lubricant market in Nigeria, have carried their request to the Comptroller General of Customs. Mr. Alhaji Abudullahi Dikko Inde, to help curb the influx of substandard lubricants been imported into the country by some unscrupulous elements.
In a courtesy call to the Comptroller General of Customs on Wednesday 1, August 2012, the LUPAN executive council members lament the rising trend of the importation of these substandard products which mostly are produced from recycled oil and lack the required additives, as well as been sold at ridiculously low price to unsuspecting customers to the detriment of genuine locally produced lubricants. The outcome of which includes malfunctioning or damage to machineries, environmental pollution and of course loss of sales for local producers which in turn result to low capacity utilisation and eventual closure of production plants. All these adversely affect the nation’s economy not to talk of the attendant loss of jobs that will arise.
It is on this basis that LUPAN has taken the responsibility of bringing the awareness of this disturbing trend to relevant regulatory bodies and government agencies in order to galvanise them to take necessary steps against the importation of substandard lubricants into the country. According to Mr Emeka Obidike, the Executive Secretary of LUPAN, the body have in the recent past paid similar visits to Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). He therefore enlisted the support of the Comptroller General of Customs to ensure that these products do not indiscriminately enter the country through any of the ports.
Mr Emeka also enlist the support of the Comptroller General to appeal to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance to review the import duty tariff regime on imported lubricants and the chief raw material (Base Oil) used locally to produce lubricants. He said under the HS CODE 2719:1939, both the finished product i.e. imported lubricant and the raw material (Base Oil) attracts the same duty tariff of 10%, which obviously give undue advantage to imported lubricants over the locally produced lubricants.
This position is not in tandem with the transformation agenda where the country is expected to encourage local production. It is therefore expedient to review downwards to 5% duty tariff on Base Oil in order to protect local producers, prevent job losses, increase capacity utilisation and creating more jobs. Also LUPAN wants the duty tariff on imported lubricants to be reviewed upwards to 50% so as to discourage the influx of substandard lubricant into the country. They also enjoin Customs to ensure that relevant regulatory bodies certify the lubricants to be okay before releasing them to the importers; stressing that monitoring and control at the various entry points for these lubricants is fundamental to the desired sanitisation of the market.
Responding, the Comptroller General of Custom Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko Inde appreciates LUPAN sensitisation activities, which he said can greatly assist the Customs in checking unwholesome practices of some of the lubricant importers. He said Customs have an established working relationship with regulatory bodies in Nigeria and together they prevent the influx of substandard products into the country. He therefore urged LUPAN to interact with their relevant regulatory body for effective synergy in checking the ugly trend. On the demand for tariff review, while supporting LUPAN’s position, especially as it affects protection of local producers as well as guaranteeing more job creation, Alhaji Dikko advised that they take this request to the Ministry of Finance who has the responsibility of carrying review on duty tariff regime.
One of the LUPAN Exco member Mr T O Williams, who is the MD of Lubcon Oils expresses gratitude to the Comptroller General for receiving them and showing Customs readiness to partner with relevant stakeholders in this patriotic drive to sanitise the Oil Lubricant market. He assured him that they will also take their message to the Ministry of Finance in no distance future.
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