Nigeria Customs Service enforces new DDP courier regulations to strengthen compliance, revenue assurance, and global best practices

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, on Monday announced the commencement of a new Standard Operating Procedure to regulate courier companies operating under the Delivered Duty Paid, DDP, Incoterm.

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The initiative aims to standardise registration, manifest submission, declaration, clearance, delivery, and compliance monitoring in line with global best practices.

Abdullahi Maiwada, Deputy Comptroller and National Public Relations Officer of the NCS, stated that courier operators intending to operate under the DDP regime must obtain a licence from the NCS Headquarters Licence and Permit Unit, under the Tariff and Trade Department.

Mandatory documents include Corporate Affairs Commission registration papers, valid courier licences, compliance bonds, and a formal application to operate under DDP.

Maiwada explained that licensed operators are required to submit an advance electronic manifest 24 hours before the arrival of shipments, specifying DDP as the Incoterm and providing detailed information on HS codes, item descriptions, values, origins, and consignees, consistent with the World Customs Organisation’s SAFE Framework of Standards.

Under the SOP, courier companies are also expected to act as declarants by filing Single Goods Declarations through the B’Odogwú platform. Declarations must include declared FOB values, supported by invoices, airway bills, and packing lists.

Full payment of customs duties, value-added tax, and other statutory levies must be completed through authorised NCS channels before clearance.

Maiwada highlighted that delivery to consignees is permitted only after full clearance and proof of delivery must be provided upon request.

Risk-based cargo profiling will guide inspections, with physical checks carried out when discrepancies or high-risk indicators arise.

The NCS has instituted a monitoring and enforcement mechanism through periodic post-clearance audits to verify DDP declarations, prevent revenue leakages, and ensure compliance with classification and valuation standards.

Violations, including false declarations, non-payment of duties, or operational misconduct, may result in licence suspension or revocation, seizure of goods, fines with interest, and prosecution under the NCS Act, 2023.

Operators are required to submit monthly reports detailing all DDP shipments, duty payments, classification information, and delivery records to the relevant area commands.

Maiwada emphasised that the SOP reinforces the NCS’s commitment to facilitating legitimate trade, enhancing revenue assurance, and ensuring courier operations under the DDP regime meet the highest global compliance standards.

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The initiative is grounded in the International Chamber of Commerce Incoterms 2020, the NCS Act 2023, the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards, the Revised Kyoto Convention, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, the NCS Courier Clearance Guidelines, and the Nigeria Postal Service Act 2023.