Importers of rice have gone to court seeking to reverse a new tariff on the commodity by the Federal Government.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) had in February 14, directed its area controllers to raise Debit Note (DN) on any Clean Report of Inspection (CRI) on rice that is below $270 per metric tonne.

The organisation backdated the policy to October last year.

But the importers, opposing the measure, have refused to pay the new tariff.

The importers, 13 in number, will be in court today seeking an order restraining the Federal Government and its agencies from implementing the new policy. The importer, who had a hint of the new tariff had last year got an order of the Federal high court directing the defendants to release their consignments in the ports or were to arrive subsequently.

But it appeared that the order was not obeyed. Following face-off, all the vessels that came into the ports with rice have remained, about 16 of them, at Apapa Port said, the shipping position.

The risk of being diverted away from Nigeria by the ship owners who will no doubt seek to recover their losses", the letter said.

According to the importers, the new tariff by the Customs Service did not take into account other fundamental factors affecting the pricing of goods in the world market.

Such factors, the importers said were the "time the contracts were made, quality, quantity, country of origin and government policy of the exporting countries, which are geared to export orientation".

Besides, the importers argued that government should take into consideration that it has pre-shipment inspection agents which verified their goods for quality, quantity and value.

"As law abiding citizens, we have abided with the value assessed on the CRIs covering the importation of the goods (rice) and we have equally paid out duty and other relevant charges accordingly", the letter said.

When contacted, a Customs Official who pleaded anonymity told THISDAY that he cannot make public comment on a matter that was before the court.

The Secretary-General of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Iju Tony Nwabunike who condemned the policy said it will wreck havoc on the importers.

Nwabunike explained that this was because already, many of the importers have sold the items, and may not be in a position to raise the money that will be required in the DN.

"Most of the importers must have sold the rice and even used the profit, so now asking them to refund this in the name of DN is unfair and ill-advised", he said.

What government should do, he said, was to make the new policy effective from new import, so that importers can plan their sales after calculating what has been spent on tariff.

The Managing Director, Clemco Industries Limited, Chief Tony Okonkwo described the new policy as having the resemblance of that of the military regime when Decrees were issued and backdated to catch up with perceived enemies.

Reacting on the policy, the Chairman of ANLCA, Chief Peter Obi said his members were totally against it, stating "I don't see any reason for asking people to vomit what they ate last night".

"I am not making a case for importers, but I am a patriotic Nigerian, we should be brother's keepers. If an importers gets a consignment - he costs everything before selling. From October to November, he must have sold it. Raising DN after about five months is like deciding to imprison the man. It brings us to the style of the military where decrees are made and backdated. It is undemocratic", he said.