Nigeria to Introduce New Clearing Rates for Used Cars by March 2014

The Federal Government has said that it would introduce new clearing rates for the importation of used cars into Nigeria from March 2014. This, the Government says, will accelerate development of manufacturing plants by global and local firms. The Director-General of the National Automotive Council (NAC), under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Aminu Jalal, explained that the policy will not result in banning importation of vehicles into Nigeria. He said, “Nissan, Toyota and others are now conducting a feasibility study on vehicle assembly in Nigeria, assuming that a comprehensive automotive development plan will be in place. Accordingly, a holistic, comprehensive and long-term automotive development plan was therefore developed and implementation has commenced.” “It would ensure competitiveness and increase productivity of the sector, include the establishment of automotive supplier parks and clusters, skills development, standards, investment promotion, market development and anti-smuggling measures.” He said the policy is subject to periodic reviews and would enable the automotive industry achieve its potential for the Nigerian economy, adding that it would also revitalise and boost the existing Nigerian automotive industry. “At full capacity, the Nigerian automotive industry has the potential to create 70,000 skilled and semi-skilled jobs along with 210,000 indirect jobs in the SMEs that will supply the assembly plants. 490,000 other jobs will also be created in the raw materials supply industries.” The Federal Government has given February 28, 2014 as the deadline to importers of used vehicles to clear them at old rates if they had opened a letter of credit for the vehicles before October 3, 2013.