How NESREA Clearance Permit replaces SONCAP

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Press Release

Virtually all products imported
into the Nigerian territory are regulated under the SONCAP programme, and would
have to undergo a two-step certification for SON Product Certificate and SONCAP
Certificate respectively. However, a few items listed below are exempted from
this programme, and are therefore treated differently.

Importers of such goods
or products would have to obtain either a NESREA Clearance Permit or SON Import
Permit, or even NAFDAC Permit. This article shall deal heavily on NESREA
Environmental Clearance Permit. I shall treat Import Permit and NAFDAC Permit
in a separate article.

ITEMS EXEMPTED FROM SONCAP:

Food products
Medicines
Medical products other than equipment and
machines
Chemical products used as raw materials by
bona fide manufacturers
Military wares & equipment
Goods classified as contraband by the Federal
Government of Nigeria
Used products other than automobiles
Machinery (or related spare parts) destined
for use by bona fide manufacturers, who intend to use this for their own
manufacturing purposes. They are advised to apply to the SON for a SONCAP
import permit.

HOW TO PROCESS NESREA CLEARANCE
PERMIT

NESREA is an acronym for
National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency. First and
foremost, let me list all the goods regulated by this agency, then I can walk
you through on how to process and obtain the permit. These are categorized as
follow:

LIST OF ITEMS REULATED BY
NESREA:

1. Large household appliances
(White goods)

1.
Large cooling appliances

2.
Refrigerators

3.
Freezers

4.
Other large appliances used for
refrigeration, conservation and storage of food

5.
Washing machines

6.
Water Heaters

7.
Clothes dryers

8.
Dish washing machines

9.
Electric Cooking Utensils

10.
Electric stoves

11.
Electric hot plates

12.
Microwave ovens

13.
Other large appliances used for
cooking and other processing of food

14.
Electric heating appliances

15.
Electric radiators

16.
Other large appliances for
heating rooms, beds, seating furniture

17.
Electric fans

18.
Air conditioner appliances

19.
Other fanning, exhaust
ventilation and conditioning equipment

20.

2. Small household appliances
(White goods)

1.
Vacuum cleaners

2.
Carpet sweepers

3.
Other appliances for cleaning

4.
Appliances used for sewing,
knitting, weaving and other processing for textiles

5.
Irons and other appliances for
ironing, mangling and other care of clothing

6.
Toasters

7.
Fryers

8.
Grinders, coffee machines and
equipment for opening or sealing containers or packages

9.
Electric knives

10.
Appliances for hair-cutting,
hair drying, tooth brushing, shaving, massage and other body care appliances

11.
Clocks, watches and equipment
for the purpose of measuring, indicating or registering time

12.
Weighing Scales

3. ICT and telecommunications
equipment (Grey goods)

1.
Mainframes

2.
Minicomputers

3.
Personal computers

4.
Laptop computers

5.
Notebook computers

6.
Notepad computers

7.
Printers

8.
Copying equipment

9.
Electrical and electronic
typewriters

10. Pocket and desk calculators

11.Other products and equipment for
the collection, storage, processing, presentation or communication of
information by electronic means

12. User terminals and systems

13. Facsimile

14. Telex

15. Telephones

16. Pay telephones

17. Cordless telephones

18. Cellular telephones

19. Answering systems

20. Other products or equipment of
transmitting sound, images or other information by telecommunications

4. Entertainment and Consumer
equipment

1.
Radio sets

2.
Television sets

3.
Video cameras

4.
Video recorders

5.
Hi-fi recorders

6.
Audio amplifiers

7.
Musical instruments

8.
Other products or equipment for
the purpose of recording or reproducing sound or images, including signals or
other technologies for the distribution of sound and image than by
telecommunications

5. Lighting equipment

1.
Luminaries for fluorescent lamps
with the exception of luminaries in households

2.
Straight fluorescent lamps

3.
Compact fluorescent lamps

4.
High intensity discharge lamps,
including pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps

5.
Low pressure sodium lamps

6.
Other lighting or equipment for
the purpose of spreading or controlling light with the exception of filament
bulbs

6. Electrical and electronic
tools

1.
Drills

2.
Saws

3.
Sewing machines

4.
Equipment for turning, milling,
sanding, grinding, sawing, cutting, shearing, drilling, making holes, punching,
folding, bending or similar processing of wood, metal and other materials

5.
Tools for riveting, nailing or
screwing or removing rivets, nails, screws or similar uses

6.
Tools for welding, soldering or
similar use

7.
Equipment for spraying,
spreading, dispersing or other treatment of liquid or gaseous substances by
other means

8.
Tools for mowing or other
gardening activities

7. Toys, leisure and sports
equipment

1.
Electric trains or car racing
sets

2.
Hand-held video game consoles

3.
Video games

4.
Computers for biking, diving,
running and rowing

5.
Sports equipment with electric
or electronic components

6.
Coin slot machines

8. Medical devices (with the
exception of all implanted and infected products)

1.
Radiotherapy equipment

2.
Cardiology equipment

3.
Dialysis equipment

4.
Pulmonary ventilators Nuclear
medicine equipment

5.
Laboratory equipment for in-vitro
diagnosis

6.
Analysers

7.
Fertilization tests equipment

8.
Other appliances for detecting,
preventing, monitoring, treating, alleviating illness, injury or disability

9. Monitoring and control
instruments

1.
Smoke detector

2.
Heating regulators

3.
Thermostats

4.
Measuring, weighing or adjusting
appliances for household or laboratory equipment. Other monitoring and control
instruments used in industrial installations (for example, in control panels)

10. Automatic dispensers

1.
Automatic dispensers for hot
drinks

2.
Automatic dispensers for hot or
cold bottles or cans

3.
Automatic dispensers for solid
products

4.
Automatic dispensers for money

5.
All appliances which deliver
automatically all kind of products

11. Others

1.
Generators

2.
Transformers

CATEGORIES OF CHEMICALS

1.
Agrochemicals

2.
Pesticides

3.
Herbicides

4.
Fertilisers

5.
Industrial Chemicals / raw
materials

6.
Inorganic Chemical Reagents

7.
Organic Chemicals & Solvents

8.
Thickeners

9.
Pigments

10. Colorants

11. Corrosion inhibitors

12. Retardants

13. Anti-microbial

14. Organic Solvents

HOW TO APPLY FOR NESREA
CLEARANCE PERMIT

To apply for this permit, write
a letter to the DG, attach necessary documents; see sample below. Ordinarily,
letters are to be taken to the nearest NESREA office (what an analogue system
am afraid). To fasten your work, simply send the letter via email to: dg@nesrea.gov.ng and
copy: ie@nesrea.gov.ng.

28 March, 2018.

The Director General

NESREA

No. 4 Oro-Ago Crescent,

Off Mohammed Buhari Way,

Garki- Abuja

Dear Sir,

APPLICATION FOR ISSUANCE OF
IMPORT CLEARANCE PERMIT

We write to request for import
clearance permit for the product with below particulars:

Item: Exchange Engine Type 3412C (used)
Name of importer: Vagmon Group Ltd.
Expected Date of Arrival: To be determined
after Form M
Port of Discharge: Port Harcourt Airport
Quantity: 1
Brand Name: Caterpillar Diesel Engine, Type
D3412C
Country of Export: Netherland

Kindly see attached Pro forma
invoice, Test Result, MSDS and other documents for further description.

Yours faithfully,

Brown Williams

Documentation Person

For Vagmon Integrated Services

The director or his team will
review and write back to confirm the item is NESREA, regulated or not. If
regulated, and if documents provided are good, they will evaluate the goods and
indicate permit processing amount to be paid via remittal to the Treasury
Single Account (TSA) of the federal republic of Nigeria.

Once payment is made, you would
have to scan the evidence back to the above email, after which the permit is
issued and transmitted to the NESREA office close to your location for pick up.

At the area office, you must
show the original pay evidence and the application letter for the permit.

WHAT DOCUMENTS MUST YOU ATTACH?

1. Chemicals

1.
Pro forma Invoice

2.
Material Safety Data Sheet
(MSDS)

3.
Federal Inland Revenue Service
(FIRS) Tax Clearance Certificate; and

4.
Certificate of Incorporation
from the Corporate Affairs Commission

2. Electrical
Electronic Equipment

2.1 Brand New EEE

1.
A completed Registration form
for EEE import

2.
Pro forma Invoice

3.
SONCAP

2.2 Used Electrical
Electronic Equipment (UEEE) Import Certificate

1.
A completed Registration form
for EEE import;

2.
Federal Inland Revenue Service
(FIRS) Tax Clearance Certificate;

3.
Certificate of Incorporation
from the Corporate Affairs Commission; and

4.
Evidence of payment as a
registered Import.

2.3 Small and Large
Industrial Equipment, Motor Vehicle Auto Parts and Mixed Items

1.
Pro forma Invoice

2.
Federal Inland Revenue Service
(FIRS) Tax Clearance Certificate; and

3.
Certificate of Incorporation
from the Corporate Affairs Commission

Note that most used items are
NESREA regulated; the list above is a guide.

You don’t have to worry much
about the documents to attach, only let us know what you have got and let us
see what can be done. Vagmon Integrated Services.

The beautiful thing about NESREA
clearance permit is that the same certificate is used to obtain form m and per,
unlike the SON certification where you are required to get PC first and later
get SONCAP after getting Form M. Again no certificate validation required for
NESREA. Go straight; use your permit to apply for Form M, and subsequently
PAAR. TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF NESREA NOW AND REDUCE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SON.