>
The Federal Government has approved a reduction in the import duties of 115 items in various sectors of the economy.
President Muhammadu Buhari gave the approval on Wednesday. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun , while communicating the approval through a circular obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, said the move was in line with the provisions of the Economic Community of West African States ’ Common External Tariff(ECOWAS CET) .
The ECOWAS CET , which will cover the 2017 to 2019 fiscal periods, is composed of three categories made up of an Import Adjustment Tax list of 173 tariff lines, a national list consisting of 91 items and an import prohibition list , which is applicable to certain goods originating from non – ECOWAS member states .
The circular read in part , “ This is to confirm that His Excellency, Mr . President, has approved the 2016 fiscal policy measures made up of the supplementary protection measures for implementation together with the ECOWAS CET 2015 – 2019 with effect from 17 th of October, 2016 .”
“Consequently, all transactions prior to the effective date of this circular shall be subjected to the tariff rates applicable before the coming into effect of this 2016 fiscal policy measures . ”
An analysis of the import adjustment tax list , which contains 173 items , shows that the Federal Government has given approval for the reduction of 26 of them , while it left the tariffs on 144 items unchanged .