DAILY POST
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government has continued to foot-drag in the implementation of zero import tariff waiver on selected food items months after the kickoff announcement, DAILY POST reports.
The food items to enjoy the zero tariff include husked brown rice, grain, sorghum, millet, maize, wheat and beans for 150 days spanning from 15th July to 31 December 2024.
The tariff waiver was first announced by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun in June 2024 as part of President Tinubu’s administration fiscal policy measures to cut down on the prices of food.
In July 2024, the Comptroller General of NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi reaffirmed the government’s commitment towards the commencement of the tariff waiver.
The policy was expected to kick off on August 14, 2024, when the Customs in a statement announced the rollout of detailed guidelines towards the implementation of the tariff waiver.
“Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is pleased to announce that His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR through the Honourable Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Olawale Edun has approved the regulation for the implementation of a Zero Percent Duty Rate (0 percent) and Value Added Tax (VAT) exemption on selected basic food items.
“This measure aims to mitigate the high cost of food items in the Nigerian market by making essential commodities more affordable for citizens”, Customs stated.
However, months after the announced tariff waiver, Nigerians have lamented that the policy was yet to see the light of the day.
This is as the objective of reducing the prices of food items remained unachieved while the majority of Nigerians groan at the very rising cost of living.
DAILY POST reports that despite the National Bureau of Statistics inflation data for July and August which showed food inflation eased to 39.53 and 37.52 percent, market realities showed that the prices of food and goods remained high.
A market survey by DAILY POST on Monday showed that a 50-kilogram bag of local or foreign rice is sold between N87,000 and N106,000.
This is as a 50kg bag of beans goes for between N65,000 and N100,000. For the majority of Nigerians, access to staple food has become a nightmare, a situation that would have been reduced with the implementation of the zero-tariff waiver on selected food items.
Speaking on the development in an interview with DAILY POST on Monday, the Executive Director of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf said the major problem was the slow pace with which the government was implementing the zero tariff policy.
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