Joseph Chibu
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has commenced the full deployment of the Simplified Declaration for Passenger Baggage Import system to ease clearance, improve transparency and strengthen revenue collection at the border.
The digital initiative is part of the Service’s broader customs modernisation programme aimed at facilitating legitimate travel and cross-border trade through technology-driven processes.
Under the new system, passengers can initiate baggage declarations using mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks provided by the Command.
The system applies standardised and pre-programmed assessment tables to declared personal goods, allowing applicable duties to be calculated automatically. Upon payment, receipts are also generated electronically.
The digital process is expected to reduce manual intervention and discretionary assessment while giving passengers greater clarity and predictability in the clearance of dutiable baggage.
The Seme Area Command said the impact of the system was already being reflected in passenger clearance times, with average baggage clearance turnaround now standing at less than five minutes since the commencement of the deployment.
Within the first few days of implementation, the Command also generated ₦10,340,260.02 from passenger baggage declarations.
The revenue represents duties collected through the automated process and provides a direct channel for the remittance of applicable customs revenue to the Federation Account.
The Command, however, stressed that improved facilitation would not come at the expense of border security or compliance with customs laws and regulations.
It said the digital baggage declaration system was being implemented alongside enhanced risk management and intelligence-led enforcement to detect attempts to conceal commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
According to the Command, the combination of digital processing and targeted enforcement would enable Customs to distinguish legitimate passenger movements from activities requiring regulatory or enforcement intervention.
The initiative is also expected to improve the experience of passengers and cross-border traders by reducing avoidable delays while strengthening transparency in the assessment and payment of customs duties.
The Customs Area Controller, Seme Area Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, said the deployment was consistent with the commitment of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, to technology, innovation, trade facilitation, transparency and accountability in customs administration.
Kaila urged passengers, cross-border traders and other members of the trading community to take advantage of the simplified declaration platform and comply with applicable customs requirements.
He assured legitimate travellers and businesses operating through the Seme border corridor of continued facilitation, while noting that the Command would sustain collaboration with sister agencies and relevant stakeholders to protect national security, support lawful commerce and curb cross-border illicit trade.