Trade Facilitation: Seme Customs Deploys Digital Baggage System, Records N10.3m Revenue, 5-Minute Clearance
Trade Facilitation: Seme Customs Deploys Digital Baggage System, Records N10.3m Revenue, 5-Minute Clearance
By Success Okezie
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has commenced full operationalization of the Simplified Declaration for Passenger Baggage Import, in a major push for digital innovation, seamless trade facilitation and improved passenger experience at Nigeria’s busiest land border.
The landmark deployment is designed to revolutionize baggage clearance at the Seme corridor by simplifying declaration procedures, drastically cutting clearance time, enhancing transparency and facilitating the movement of legitimate travellers and cross-border traders.
According to the Command, the new system allows passengers to initiate baggage declarations right from their mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks installed at the Command. Through standardized and pre-programmed assessment tables, the system automatically calculates applicable duties on declared personal goods and generates receipts upon payment, thereby eliminating manual processes and discretionary assessments.
A statement signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Customs John Tunde Ayagbalo, disclosed that since the commencement of the system, the Command has recorded an average baggage clearance turnaround time of under five minutes – a feat that underscores the transformative impact of digital processing on passenger facilitation.
The revenue impact has been immediate. Within the first few days of implementation, the Command has generated N10,340,260.02 (Ten million, three hundred and forty thousand, two hundred and sixty naira, two kobo) in revenue from passenger baggage declarations alone. The automated process provides a direct, transparent and accountable channel for the collection of duties into the Federation Account.
The Command emphasized that the deployment of the simplified baggage declaration system is being implemented alongside strengthened enforcement measures to ensure that trade facilitation does not compromise border security or compliance with customs laws.
Through enhanced risk management and intelligence-led controls, officers of the Command continue to identify and intercept attempts by unscrupulous elements to conceal commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
The Customs Area Controller, Seme Area Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, reaffirmed that the initiative aligns with the broader reform agenda of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, PhD, who is committed to deploying technology and innovative processes that promote trade facilitation, transparency, accountability and compliance at the nation’s borders.
Comptroller Kaila reiterated that the Command will continue to collaborate with relevant stakeholders and sister security agencies operating at the Seme border corridor to ensure the smooth movement of legitimate passengers and goods, while maintaining effective controls against smuggling and other forms of cross-border illicit trade.
He therefore encouraged passengers, cross-border traders and members of the trading community to embrace and make use of the simplified declaration system and comply with applicable customs requirements, assuring the public that legitimate travel and commerce will continue to receive maximum facilitation within the framework of national security and economic protection.
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