The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has fully operationalised its Simplified Declaration for Passenger Baggage Import system, reduced average passenger baggage clearance time to under five minutes while generating N10.34 million in revenue within the first few days of implementation.
The digital initiative is part of the Service’s broader drive to modernise customs operations, facilitate legitimate cross-border movement and improve transparency in passenger clearance at the Seme border corridor.
Under the new system, passengers can initiate baggage declarations through their mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks within the Command.
Standardised and pre-programmed assessment tables are applied to declared personal goods, enabling the system to automatically calculate applicable duties and generate receipts upon payment.
The Command said the deployment is designed to reduce manual processes and discretionary assessments while providing passengers with a transparent, predictable and efficient process for clearing dutiable goods.
Since the commencement of the deployment, the Command has recorded an average passenger baggage clearance turnaround time of less than five minutes, reflecting the impact of digital processing on passenger facilitation.
Within the first few days of implementation, the system generated N10,340,260.02 from passenger baggage declarations alone, providing a direct and transparent channel for the collection of applicable duties payable to the Federation Account.
Despite the improved clearance process, the Command said trade facilitation would continue to be matched with strengthened enforcement measures to ensure that the system is not exploited by smugglers and other criminal elements.
Through enhanced risk management and intelligence-led controls, customs officers continue to identify and intercept attempts to conceal commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
The Customs Area Controller, Seme Area Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, said the deployment reflects the commitment of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, PhD, to deploying technology and innovative processes that promote trade facilitation, transparency, accountability and compliance at the nation’s borders.
Kaila urged passengers, cross-border traders and other members of the trading community to make use of the simplified declaration system and comply with applicable customs requirements.
He assured the public that the Command would continue to facilitate legitimate travel and commerce while maintaining effective controls against smuggling and other forms of illicit cross-border trade.
