By Favour Nnabugwu
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed that banks are no longer allowed to process hard copies of Form A and Non commercial Export (NCX) Form on the Trade Monitoring System (TMS) with a N5,000 processing charge also taking effect.
The apex bank in two separate circulars sent to the authorised dealers, the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS), shipping lines, airlines National Museum and Monuments as well as the general public, said henceforth, the forms will only be processed in electronic form.
In the circulars signed by the Director, Trade and Exchange department, CBN, Mr. O.S Nnaji, the central bank stated that the electronic form A will replace the hard copy of Form ‘A’ for invincible transactions such as Personal and business travel allowance (PTA/BTA) medicals, education, other remittances amongst other while the e-Form ‘NCX’ shall replace the hard copy of Form ‘NCX’ for non-commercial exports, with effect from November 30, 2021.
For those filling the e-Form A, the CBN said they are required to obtain o valid Bank Verification Number (BVN) from their banks, as the BVN is a prerequisite for customers to access the Trade System for e-Form ‘A’ application;
According to the central bank, “The e-Form ‘A’ is web based and allows the General Public to initiate the Form from their offices/homes and submit same to the Authorized Dealer Bank. A charge of N5,000 as fee per declaration of e-Form ‘A’ is applicable with effect from November 30, 2021 and henceforth.
“There will be a direct debit of the processing bank’s current account for each declaration which should be recovered from the customer by the bank. However, the charge on the Customer for the e-Form ‘A’ should be separated from other bank charges;
“All hard copies of Forms ‘A’ established on or before November 30, 2021, prior to the commencement of the e-Form ‘A’ shall be utilized within 15 working days of the establishment of the Form. For avoidance of doubt, all established hard copies of Forms ‘A’ for which disbursement had not been made within the transition period of 15 working days shall be deemed cancelled.”
For those filling out the e-Form NCX, the apex bank said, “Authorized Dealer Banks are to ensure that their customers obtain a valid Tax Identification Number (TIN) from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)/Joint Tax Board (JTB). The TIN is a prerequisite for customers to access the Trade System for e-Form ‘NCX’ application.
“The N5,000 charge is also applicable for the e-Form NCX and “there will be a direct debit of the processing bank’s current account for each declaration which should be recovered from the customer by the bank. However, the charge on the customer for the e-Form ‘NCX’ should be separated from other bank charges.
“All hard copies of Forms ‘NCX’ established on or before November 30, 2021 (prior to the commencement of the e-Form ‘NCX’) shall be utilized within 90 days of the establishment of the Form. For avoidance of doubt, all established hard copies of Forms ‘NCX’ for which shipment has not taken place within the transition period of 90 days shall be deemed cancelled.”
