FEW DAYS TO HANDOVER:

Stakeholders Skeptical Over PAAR, Trade Hub
There are grave uncertainties over the expected take-over next week of the destination inspection scheme by the Nigeria Customs Service.
There are anxieties that government may again bow to the renewed pressure being mounted by lobbyists for a further extension of the contract of the four destination inspection service providers to 2014 fiscal year.
The three service providers are: Globalscan Systems Limited, SGS, and Cotecna Destination Inspection Nigeria Limited and Webb Fontaine.
Sources close to the various interests in Lagos and Abuja confirmed that no final decision has been taken about the June 1 to November 30, 2013 contract extension which was earlier granted by the Federal Government through the Minister of Finance; Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the Federal Ministry of Finance had in January 2006 entered into a seven-year Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) contract with the service providers. It was to expire on December, 2012. But government, on December 31, 2012 announced a six-month extension of the contract to June, 2013. A further six months extension was granted towards the tail end of the second extension.
Although a senior official at the Ministry of finance told our correspondent last week that there is nothing as yet to indicate a further extension, our correspondent confirmed that the ministry is in receipt of briefs which indicted the Customs about its level of preparations for the take –over.
Specifically, a copy of the report, which was sighted by our correspondent, revealed that, while Customs has done well by posting officers to run the scanners ahead of time, it has not done anything about the need to guide other stakeholders into the emerging dispensation.
The Customs was also scored low in preparation for the smooth flag-off of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR). The report specifically pointed at the low level of awareness on the part of those who will use it. It stated that, few weeks to the d day, only Customs is aware of what PAAR is all about, even at it pointed out that, those critical to PAAR are: the banks, importers, freight forwarders, terminal operators, etc.
Perhaps, to buttress the report, port operators have also expressed Doubt about the Success of PAAR and the much-talk-about Trade Hub of the Customs. They expressed skepticism about the capability of the Customs to successfully run the process.
The operators who spoke with Shipping Position Daily at a sensitization programme for freight forwarders, importers and exporters at the Apapa command of the service in Lagos last week, expressed doubts about the success of the newly developed risk assessment engine of the customs; the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) saying that it may not ameliorate the suffering or satisfy the yearning of port operators.
Speaking exclusively with our correspondent shortly after the programme which was essentially to educate stakeholders on the PAAR and the newly developed information portal; Nigerian Trade Hub, representative of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (LCCI) Mrs. Julie Ogboru noted that the platform may not reduce documentation challenges in clearance process.

She observed that all the systems of the customs are not yet well linked together in order to ensure successful take-off of the platforms.

Essentially, she noted that on the Nigerian Trade Hub, it will still take the NAFDAC not less than 80 days to issue certification and permit for the importation of rice.

“If you say you want to start the PAAR, and all the systems are not linked together then we are not going anywhere, we are going back to square one, if we are going to start the PAAR, they should link all the system together and reduce the number of days they use in issuing documents”

Also casting doubts on the successful take off of the PAAR, Director of Publicity under the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA); Mr. Festus Ukwu doubted the competence and readiness of the customs to take over the destination inspection from the service providers.
Ukwu told Shipping Position Daily that, adding more functions to the customs is going to weigh it down, even as the port is still battling with issues of port congestion.
“PAAR will only cause more inconveniences because the Customs will remain the same Customs that we have known, if you look at the present situation of things at the port, there is congestion, and when additional responsibility is being added to Customs without new intakes to handle the new assignment, there will be a problem, but we cannot say what it will be until when they have started”.
“How are they sure that their officers have been trained to handle the issue, are they well prepared? Are they well organized? “
Addressing the poor inter-agency linkage, he said that: “Four months is too much for NAFDAC to issue a permit if the PAAR is going to be successful, they should buckle up, if all indices are correct, why shouldn’t they give it under two weeks to issue such permit” he said.
While lecturing port operators on the working of the PAAR and the Trade Hub, Deputy Controller Bashar Yussuf from Custom ICT centre confirmed that the numbers of days to obtain documents as published on the Nigerian Trade Hub are given to the Customs directly by the various government agencies.
“If you need a certification from NAFDAC or from SON on bulk consignments or unfinished products, these are the information they gave to us, it is left for you to follow up, this is not Custom function, but we said let us do it together”.