The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has suspended collection of the $400 port congestion surcharge imposed by multinational shipping line; CMA CGM on cargoes berthing at Lagos ports of Tin Can and Apapa.
CMA CGM had recently announced that cargoes from any part of the world on any of its ships will attract extra “USD 400 / EUR 850 per 20' Dry and Reefer and USD 400 / EUR 350 per 40' Dry and Reefer.
The surcharge was to have taken off on Monday; October 15th, 2018.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, following notification of the surcharge, the Shippers’ Council had fixed a meeting for Monday with the various shipping lines operating in Nigeria.
But, Executive Secretary of the Council; Mr Hassan Bello confirmed yesterday that the decision to suspend collection of the surcharge was taken after a closed door meeting with stakeholders in Lagos.
He confirmed that: “We had a meeting yesterday with the shipping companies that introduced the charges. We are still meeting again but what we said was that whether they are surcharges or local charges, it must be cleared with the council”
“The procedure was not followed, so the shipping companies will go back to their principal to convey the outcome to the carriers”
“They cannot just charge arbitrarily, first of all NSC opposed the charges especially because of the economy; secondly, the procedure is wrong, you can’t just slam charges without telling us”
He added that, “we told them to suspend or stop the charges and consult their principal before the next meeting,’’ said the NSC boss.
He said that another meeting would be held to conclude on the matter.
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