NCS INTRODUCES DIGITAL BAGGAGE DECLARATION TO CUT CLEARANCE TIME AT SEME
Read Time:1 Minute, 30 Second
By: Fasasi Hammad
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has deployed a Simplified Baggage Import Declaration System at the Seme Area Command as part of efforts to promote digital innovation, facilitate trade and improve passenger clearance processes.
The new system is designed to simplify baggage declarations, reduce clearance time and improve transparency for legitimate travellers and cross-border traders.
Passengers can now initiate their declarations using mobile devices or complete the process at designated digital kiosks within the command.
Under the system, standardized assessment tables are used to evaluate declared personal goods, automatically calculate applicable duties and generate receipts after payment.
The initiative is expected to eliminate manual bottlenecks and discretionary assessments while providing passengers with a more predictable and efficient clearance process.
According to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Tunde Ayagbalo, the system has already produced significant results, with the average clearance turnaround time falling to less than five minutes since its deployment.
He said the command generated N10.3 million in revenue from passenger baggage declarations within the first few days of the rollout, with the automated system providing a direct and transparent channel for remitting duties to the Federation Account.
Ayagbalo added that the simplified declaration system was being implemented alongside strengthened enforcement measures, including enhanced risk management and intelligence-led controls to prevent the concealment of commercial quantities of restricted or prohibited goods as passenger baggage.
The Area Controller of Seme Command, Comptroller Abdullahi Kaila, said the deployment formed part of the NCS’s broader modernization agenda.
“We are determined to improve the passenger experience while safeguarding revenue and national security. Technology is the bridge between facilitation and enforcement,” Kaila said.
The command said the initiative further demonstrates the NCS’s commitment to improving transparency, accountability and efficiency in passenger clearance at the border.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0