In a bid to bring a lasting solution to delays in vehicle clearance at the ports, freight forwarder, Mr. George Okafor has beckoned on the officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to allow agencies to handle increment of packages for imported vehicles.
Okafor who is also the Ports &Terminal Multipurpose Logistics (PTML) chapter chairman of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) said this in an interview with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week.
He lauded the recently introduced Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS) 2 saying that it has to a very large extent fastened cargo clearance especially at PTML.
Okafor however said that the only problem practitioners are having with the platform in the area of vehicles clearance is the increment of the units.
“In the area of vehicles clearance the only problem the platform has is what we call Increase in Package. If you have some packages in the vehicles and you didn’t declare them, you have to go to customs to increase the package from 1unit to 2units so that they can now go that is the only issue, it is not bottleneck as such, once you go there they will do it and you will go and punch your work”
Explaining further he said that before now when the increment is being handled by the agencies, the processes is faster compared to now when it is handled by officers of the service.
“You know because of the nature of our business like here in PTML we have only one person that is increasing the package. So when you get there you will be on queue and that is the only delay because it is only one customs officer that has been assigned to do that”
“Because it doesn’t happen always it is only when the ship comes and some goods also come without increasing the package, they have their normal packages and you don’t need to do that, it is only when you have some packages that are not declared that is when you will go and do it. Before it is the cyber café that used to do it but now they have handed it over to customs to be doing that. So if they can reverse it to the agencies to be increasing the packages instead of customs, it will be good because of delays” he concluded.
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