Oluyinka Onigbinde
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has knocked the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), saying its actions are militating against trade facilitation at the seaports.
The CPPE, in its half-year report which was sent to our correspondent, noted the factors to include sealing of port terminals, disruption of cargo movement and quest to generate revenue at the detriment of trade facilitation.
Specifically, the CPPE, through its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, lampooned the customs service for sealing port terminals, thereby disrupting cargo clearance.
Recall that the NCS recently sealed the Five Stars Logistic terminal owing to non-compliance with financial obligations. But, reacting to the sealing in its report, the CPPE stated that innovative ways should be adopted by the service in such situations, rather than sealing of terminals to avoid the collateral negative effects on other stakeholders; particularly the importers and the exporters.
The group explained that there are instances where consignments on which duties have been paid and have been duly cleared, have been trapped in terminals that have been sealed. He urged the NCS to review its strategy on imposition of sanctions to avoid disruptions of businesses of innocent economic players.
The CPPE said: “We acknowledge the need for all operators at the ports to abide by the terms and agreement of their operation, including the financial obligations. We recognize the need to enforce compliance with such obligations. However, this should be done in a way that would not impact negatively on innocent stakeholders at the ports.
“We therefore request that in imposing sanctions on terminal operators or other agencies at the ports, innovative ways should be adopted to avoid collateral negative effects on other stakeholders particularly the importers and the exporters. There are instances where consignments on which duties have been paid and cleared, have been trapped in terminals that have been sealed. The Nigeria Customs Service should therefore review its strategy on sanctions imposition to avoid disruptions of businesses of innocent economic players”
Speaking further CPPE further lampooned the NCS for alleged disruption of movement after cargoes must have been cleared at the port.
The centre lamented that despite the efforts of the government over the years to put an end to the disruption of cargoes that have been duly cleared and released at the ports, the problem has persisted.
It recalled that, there is in existence a Presidential Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business, which stipulates that there should be no disruptions of movement of cleared cargoes within the vicinity of our port, but lamented that the order has not been complied with.
The CPPE noted that importers still have to grapple with disruption of the movement of their consignments by security agencies, especially the Federal Operations Unit, the Comptroller General Strike Force and Comptroller General Border Drill.
“We call on the government to put an end to the disruption of the movement of cargoes that have been duly cleared by government agencies within the ports. This is against the spirit of the Ease of Doing Business and it is negatively impacting the confidence of investors. The experience is that of overlapping examination of cargo, additional time and additional expenses, thus escalating the cost of doing business”.
Speaking on trade facilitation, the CPPE noted that the revenue generation objectives of the Customs have taken precedence over trade facilitation and as such, are not good for the economy and not good for the commitment of the government to create jobs.
The centre further explained that the revenue drive is not investment-friendly, and urged Customs and the relevant authorities to accord the proper priority to issues of trade facilitation for the benefit of the economy, investment growth and employment generation.
On the dispute resolution mechanism at the port, the centre said, “the dispute resolution system between importers and the agencies in the port, including the Customs, terminal operators and shipping companies is not effective and therefore hurting investors in the economy. In many cases, “we have a dispute resolution committee where the accuser is also the judge.
Read Also: Despite Presidential Mandatory Approval, Stakeholders Doubt Commercial Take-Off of Lekki Port By September
“There is therefore a need for an independent appeal framework for resolution of disputes in the international trade ecosystem. This is to ensure fairness and equity in the way disputes are resolved. Current appeal committees are populated by operatives of the very agencies against which the appeals are being lodged. This cannot serve the end of justice and a credible outcome”, it noted.
The centre also lampooned shipping companies over refusal and delays in return of container deposits, explaining that many importers have been encountering serious challenges with the recovery of container deposits from the shipping companies.
The centre alleged that refunds take between five to eight months and the cumulative container deposits outstanding are quite staggering while calling on shipping companies to improve on the refund of container deposits.
“This is a matter that requires urgent intervention by the relevant authorities. Refunds take between five to eight months and the cumulative container deposits outstanding are quite staggering. There is a need for the shipping companies to improve on the refund of container deposits.
“They should also facilitate the delivery of empty containers to them. The current approach of demanding that containers be taken directly into the ports is creating a lot of challenges for importers. Therefore, we demand that the shipping companies should comply with earlier directives of the government that they should have a holding bay outside the ports for the delivery of empty containers.
“This will reduce the time it takes to return empty containers, reduce the demurrage that importers pay both for the containers and for the trucks that convey these empty containers. It will also reduce the problem of congestion at the ports, because many of the trucks that are heading to the ports are carrying empty containers which create a lot of congestion and logistics problems within the ports” the report stated.
Kindly like us on Facebook/twitter
