Guidelines from Customs allow LPG marketers to take advantage of 0% import waiver

Marketers of Liquified Natural Gas can now take advantage of the presidential decree banning the import of gas goods including imported LPG and accessories, according to the Nigeria Customs Service.

If you want to take advantage of this waiver, you’ll need to provide Customs with a letter of approval from the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy.

This follows Oladapo Olatunbosun’s (National President of the Nigeria Association of LPG Marketers) criticism of the president’s order to eliminate gas import tariffs, which has so far gone unfulfilled.

Among other things, Olatunbosun told journalists on Thursday that it was “unfortunate” that the Nigeria Customs Service and others had refused to carry out President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s order to waive the import duty on gas items and imported gas.

In response on Thursday, however, Abdullahi Maiwada, the Nigeria Customs Service’s national public relations officer, clarified that the agency was not resisting the president’s order.

“The Customs received the letter regarding this directive from the Federal Minister of Finance on December 12, and by December 15, it had sent out circulars to the state command to ensure its implementation,” Maiwada revealed.

“On the other hand, it’s not a free-for-all; the letter specifies that for some things to qualify for this exemption, a letter of approval from the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy is required. The Customs will complete the task after this paperwork is submitted.

In response to the increasing price of LPG on the domestic market, the federal government approved a full tax exemption for its importation in a letter dated November 28, 2023, according to DAILY POST citing the Ministry of Finance.

As a result, there will be no import duty or value-added tax applied to LPG imported under HS Codes 2711.12.00.00, 2711.13.00.00, and 2711.19.00.00. As a result, there will be zero percent duty and zero percent value-added tax on LPG imports starting right now.

Since the product’s price jumped from N9,000 for 12kg to about N13,500 to 14,500, depending on location in Nigeria, Nigerians have continued to bemoan the soaring cost of cooking gas.