Section 18: Offences and penalties for unlawful exportation

(1) Any person who. at any time after the commencement of this Act, knowingly exports goods liable to pre-shipment inspection under this Act otherwise than in compliance with the provisions of this Act, is guilty of an offence under this Act.
(2) Any person found guilty of an offence under this Act is liable on conviction-
(a) in the case of an individual, to a fine of N50,000 or the value of the goods, whichever is higher, or to imprisonment for a term of not more than twelve months or to both such fine and imprisonment; and
(b) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine of N 100,000 or twice the value of goods, whichever is higher.
(3) Where an offence under this section is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer, servant or agent of the body corporate (or any person purporting to act in such capacity), that person as well as the body corporate shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished in the same manner as an individual under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, "value" means the amount stated on the face of the document or documents relating to the transaction in question and, where this is not expressed in Nigerian currency, its equivalent in Nigerian currency, so however, that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as precluding proof of value by any other method or means permitted by any other enactment or law (including rules of law).
(5) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, it shall be a defence to an offence under this section for the person charged with the offence, including-
(a) the exporter of goods in respect of which the offence has been committed;
(b) any consignee or endorsee for valuable consideration of any bill of lading or any other appropriate document representing goods to have been shipped from Nigeria; and
(c) any other person who in the normal course of his duties handles exported goods, to prove that the goods in question were exported without default on his part or by fraud or negligence of the exporter or of any other person.