Customs Revenue: Fraudulent practices mar mobilization

The Customs Department, a satellite of the Ministry of Finance, is battling to fill the holes of leakages affecting the optimal mobilisation of State resources. A press release to this effect signed recently by the Director General of Customs, Fongod Edwin Nuvaga, makes reference to indiscrimate activities rocking imports of vehicles into the country.

The communique notes that ; « It has come to the attention of the Director General of Customs that some users resort to forged documents for the clearing of vehicles and registration of vehicules previously declared on transit, under temporary admission, or directly imported from Nigeria or Benin».

Cars Destined For Local Consumption

At the Customs Head office at the Bastos neighbourhood in Yaounde on March 18, 2016, officials who preferred not to be named revealed that some cars on transit to landlocked countries are dumped on Cameroonian territory, causing untold financial damage. Our source explained that customs dues and taxes are suspended for cars on transit as per international conventions. When the destination of such cars is tampered with, the transiting and the destination country lose financially. The Customs Department is however strategising on better ways to halt the activity.

Some cars are also imported by land via Ashigashia in the Far North, Ekok in the South West Region and Oshie in the North West Region. Customs sources say users escape the port city of Douala and pass through the porous borders where customs offices do not really have the competence to evaluate vehicles. “There is always the tendency to underevaluate vehicules when they pass through such areas for reasons of lack of competence or complicity,” it was said. There are cases where vehicles that ought to receive clearance certificates of FCFA 30 million have been issued certificates of FCFA 5 million, making owners pay insignificant amounts as customs duties and taxes.

Temporary Admissions

Vehicules that enter the country for use by diplomatic missions benefit from tax exoneration. At the end of their stay, such diplomatic missions are expected to take such cars to Customs offices for the isuance of clearance certificates for potential buyers as per the rules of the Customs Code. However, this has not been the case with some of such cars taking a different direction.

Special Temporary Admission

This is the case with heavy-duty trucks and vehicules meant for public works projects. Foreign contractors with projects in Cameroon import their heavy equipment duty-free and such heavy duty trucks are expected to be re-exported to other countries when such contracts are executed. Some of such companies tend to abuse such privileges. They either end up selling the equipment at the end of the contract or use it for other contracts without regularising their situation at the customs offices as required.

There are also cars destined for some warehouses that benefit from exoneration. They import new cars in large quantities and in order to facilitate business for such companies, government provides through the Customs Code the possibility for them to import with a suspension of customs duties and taxes. They are expected to declare and pay dues when potential clients come up. “The practice is the cause of some headache with a lot of things going wrong,” our source pointed out.

Heavy Financial Impact

“Such fraudulent practices are the cause of significant shortfalls for the State, » states the communique of the Directorate General of Customs. Officials at the Directorate preferred not to give figures, but reiterated that State coffers suffer in the wake of such illicit practices. Owners and potential buyers of vehicles have been warned and urged to contact customs services to regularise their situation without which they will face the wrath of the CEMAC Customs Code. While waiting, “We are gradually putting in place strategies to curb such practices,” Cameroon Tribune was told.