The Nigerian Customs Service Had Insisted that Four iPhones Brought Into Nigeria by Chikaosolu Ojukwu Were “Luxury Goods” and Demanded N404,417 as Import Duty.
The Nigerian Customs Service has a very accessible “HS Code”, the so-called “harmonised system” used in classifying goods for import duty purposes. The problem is the interpretation of these codes and what goods fall where and under which conditions. Many Nigerians correctly assume that goods sent to them from abroad or that they bring into Nigeria when they travel for their personal use are exempt from import duty.
But the Nigerian Customs Service often finds a rule to make personal items subject to import duties. The ruling by the Court of Appeal Abuja Division may bring reprieve to Nigerians. Upholding a judgement by a Federal High Court, the Court of Appeal held that personal items are exempt from import duties. Abuja-based lawyer, Chikaosolu Ojukwu had objected to paying import duty on the four iPhone 13 Pro mobile telephone sets that he arrived the Nnamdi Azikwue International Airport with from abroad.
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) levied import duty on the grounds that the phones were “luxury items”, hence not disputing that the items were meant for personal use but levying import duty on them on the basis of cost. The Court of Appeal ruling upheld the judgement of a lower court that the Nigerian Customs Service cannot charge import duty on personal items based on their costs.
Under What Conditions Are Personal Items Regarded as Are Personal Items By the Nigerian Customs Service?
Segun Fiki, counsel to Chikaosolu Ojukwu said after the ruling, “This judgment represents a watershed moment in defining the limits of customs authority and protecting individual rights”. The Nigerian Customs Service has however responded with reservation on the judgement. Its spokesman said, “We will carefully study the judgment once received and decide on appropriate next steps”.
Indeed, the judgement requires “careful study” and agreement on its implications by the NCS and Nigerians. Does the judgment make goods sent or ordered and delivered via courier from abroad exempt from import duties once it could be proven that they are “personal items”?
The rule that the NCS applies seems to be that goods ordered or sent to Nigeria are import duty exempt if they cost less than $100. Does the Court of Appeal Court ruling in Chikaosolu Ojukwu Vs Nigerian Customs Service nullify this rule as it seems to classify some personal items as “luxury goods”?
The ruling may not have much impact on the arbitrariness of the Nigerian Customs Service in interpreting its import duty codes. In an odd display of this arbitrariness, the NCS charged N866,000 import duty on a Euro 46 car valve sent via courier from Germany.
The recipient was asked to pay N30,000 after 3 months of refusing to pay. He protested to DHL in Berlin that he had not received the car part when the company informed him that the parcel had been delivered. There may be more behind the custom officers’ arbitrariness than confusion about their HS Codes.
