Sunday, October 9, 2016
The Nigeria Customs
Service (NCS) is advocating a total ban on rice imports with effect from 2017
to encourage local producers, says the Service Public Relations Officer, Mr.
Wale Adeniyi.
This is contained in a
statement signed by Adeniyi, on Sunday in Abuja.
He said that the
service was disturbed by various reports indicating that customs had reversed
the ban on rice importation through the land borders.
Adeniyi said that the
reports were attributed to a press interview purportedly granted by the service
PRO, Deputy-Comptroller, Wale Adeniyi.
He said that the
reports that resurfaced this weekend were being attributed to a press interview
granted in October 2015.
Adeniyi said that the
service strongly suspected that some powerful forces behind rice smuggling were
at work, recycling old report under a different circumstance to create
confusion.
According to him,
"It is necessary to restate the true position in view of the confusion
which these publications may create in the industry.
"It is even more
expedient to provide this clarification, given that the service has taken a
firm position earlier in the week through a joint news conference with
stakeholders.
"We like to
reiterate the position that importation of rice remains banned through our land
borders and we have the commitment of partner government agencies and
stakeholders to enforce this restriction.
"While this
restriction is in force, rice imports through the ports are still allowed,
subject to payment of extant charges.
"The service will
therefore advocate a total ban on rice importation into Nigeria with effect
from 2017.
" It is our belief
that continuous waste of scarce forex on a commodity that can be produced
locally makes no economic sense, most especially at a
period of
recession," Adeniyi said.
He said that it was
important to restate the confidence that customs had in the ability of Nigerian
Rice Producers (NRP) to fill the existing sufficiency gaps in the supply of the
product.
Adeniyi said that
customs had noted the ongoing rice revolution undertaken by many state
governments and strategic interventions by Federal
Government agencies.
According to him,
"the service is convinced that the bumper harvests expected from these
efforts will address the supply gap in 2017.
"We urge Nigerians
to watch out for similar antics as the firm stand on rice smuggling will pitch
their selfish interest against our national interest.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN