The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is concerned that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new e-invoicing guidelines may prevent manufacturers from getting the most out of their exports.
The new legislation, according to MAN, is targeted at obtaining the near-accurate value of imports and exports in Nigeria.
The group claims that the central bank’s new order on the sending of validated invoices will be riddled with red tape and various fees.
What MAN is saying about CBN’s policy
Reacting to the CBN’s policy, MAN said, “It says any Form M or NXP that bears a unit price in excess of 2.5 per cent of the verified global checkmate price will not be approved. This is concerning as it will checkmate the opportunity of our exporters to derive higher value for their exports. Besides, we are worried about the determination of global price verification mechanism and benchmark prices.”
MAN also has questions concerning the implementation of the CBN new policy.
“What happens if some companies are able to negotiate better prices due to their scale of order and are able to get competitive lower prices? Will these competitive prices be within the benchmark? Clearly, this aspect of the policy will lead to several challenges on valuation down the line, including a floodgate of valuation issues with Nigeria Customs Service.
“In paragraph H, the CBN directs suppliers and buyers to transmit their authenticated invoices through the CBN appointed service provider to the Nigeria Single Window portal.
MAN stated that the new move may disturb trade rather than promote it, mostly due to added bureaucracy with attendant multiple charges. “While MAN considers this measure as a step to check perceived malpractices, we believed that the essence of Single Window policy is being diminished and this could introduce unnecessary bureaucracy with attendant multiple charges. We already contend with this type of anomaly and could ill afford any addition. It will also be a disincentive to local and foreign investors,” MAN said.
In case you missed
The CBN announced the introduction of e-evaluator and e-Invoice to replace hard copy final invoices as part of the documentation required for all import and export transactions.
Nairametris reported that the House of Representatives had asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt the implementation of e-evaluator and e-invoicing for imports and exports businesses. This was prompted following the adoption of a motion moved by Leke Abejide (APC, Kogi) on Tuesday.