At Int’l Customs Day celebration: Biya knights Customs DG for outstanding service to nation.

Finance minister poses with Customs DG after knighting him

The Director General of the Customs Department, Edwin Fongod Nuvaga, has been recognised by the State for his outstanding services rendered to the nation at the helm of the Customs Department.

The Customs boss was knighted with the medal of the Commander of National Order of Valour, at the 101 Military Airbase in Yaounde, January 27. 

The Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, conferred the medal on the Customs boss on behalf of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya. This was on the occasion of the International Customs Day celebration. It was cerebrated under the theme: “Customs delivering on its commitment to efficiency, security and prosperity”.

For his remarkable service to the State by steering the Customs Department to greater heights in revenue mobilisation year in year out, Fongod Edwin was raised from his previous ranks of Officer of the National Order of Valour, and the Knight of the National Order of Valour, to the Commander of the National Order of Valour.

Besides the Customs boss, his collaborators, Tchami Yves Patrick, who heads the Legislation and Litigation Division, and Pagou Louis, Director of Resources and Logistics, were equally awarded medals of the Knight of Cameroon Order of Merit.

Some 13 Customs officers and seven partner agents were also recipients of Certificates of Excellence, issued by the World Customs Organisation’s, WCO Secretary General, Ian Saunders.  

The ceremony was also marked by military parade and the awards of epaulettes and stripes to some 463 Customs officers; promoted to higher grades.

 

Key figures of 2024

Earlier in his speech, the Customs DG congratulated the different collaborators and personnel distinguished during the International Customs Day celebration. 

Despites global and national constraints, the Customs boss said the Customs Department has positioned itself on the path of efficiency, resilience and demonstrated its ability to adapt with remarkable performance achieved in 2024. 

According to Fongod, for the second year running, the Customs Department surpassed the symbolic 1,000 billion FCFA mark; with budget revenue mobilised to the tune of 1,055.9 billion FCFA. The figure, he said, is against an annual target of 1,094.9 billion for 2024, representing an achievement rate of 96.5%. 

He said the result represents a 33.3 billion FCFA increase in absolute terms, compared to the 1,022.6 billion FCFA mobilised during the 2023 financial year.

“This performance reflects our ability to maintain an upward trajectory in a complex environment. They are the fruits of the commitment and skills of our Customs officers, but also reflect the determination of the Directorate General of Customs to contribute to the country's economic and social development,” the Customs boss stated.

He also gave credits to its supervisory authority, the Minister of Finance, for the crucial role played in significantly reducing the amount of outstanding debts owed by public bodies and traders, thereby making a decisive contribution to consolidating the Customs revenues.

In addition to budget revenues, Fongod also indicated that the Customs Department collected off-budget revenues totaling 208.2 billion FCFA. 

He said the figure was derived from transit duty on the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, communal centimes and excise duties, community contributions to finance the integration process of CEMAC, ECCAS and the African Union, amongst other sources. 

As part of its efforts to facilitate trade, the Customs Department also collected various levies on behalf of its partners, totalling 76.5 billion FCFA. 

“Including all these sources, the total revenue raised by the Customs Department in 2024 will amount to 1,327.3 billion FCFA, representing an increase of 35.4 billion FCFA (+2.7%) on the 1,291.9 billion recorded in 2023,” Fongod emphasised.

 

Performances of Customs sectors

According to the Customs DG, the main contributing Customs sectors for the budget revenues in 2024 included; Littoral I (62.2%), South II (25.6%), Littoral II (5.2%), South West (4.2%). 

While these four sectors accounted for 97.2% of total budget revenue, only two of the twelve Customs sectors exceeded 100% of their target notably the Centre (118.5%) and the West (103.4%) Customs sectors.

Also, eight of the 12 Customs sectors improved their performance in terms of revenue mobilization, compared to the 2023 financial year. 

He said the most significant improvements, in relative terms, were South I (+30.8%), South II (+28.3%), Far North (+20.5%), North (+18.5%), South West (+12.1%), West (+9.6%), Adamawa (+3.9%) and Centre (+3.3%). 

 

Vociferous fight against weapons proliferation…

In terms of security, the Customs DG reaffirmed their commitment to raise a vociferous fight against the proliferation of small and light weapons, counterfeit and contraband goods, illicit trafficking, organised crime, money laundering, financing of terrorism, and chemical precursors.

“In carrying out its mission at borders, the customs administration plays a central role in implementing national policies and strategies aimed at neutralising these threats. Customs controls the cross-border movement of goods, people and means of transport to ensure that they comply with the regulations in force, while identifying and preventing trafficking activities,” he explained.

Sizing up efforts of the Customs Department in 2024, he said several significant seizures were made including edged weapons, hunting weapons, ammunition, protected species, cigarettes, dangerous substances, smuggled vehicles, drugs, psychotropic products, plastic packaging, as well as goods attempting to be fraudulently exported.

It is worth mentioning that the Directorate General of Customs has an uphill task of raising 1,144 billion FCFA as Customs revenue in 2025. 

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3353 of Wednesday January 29, 2025

 

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