The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) formally expressed its objection to the recent directive of the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi over the collection of the controversial Practitioners Operations Fee (POF).
The minister had directed that collection of the controversial fees should commence on August 1, 2017.
The protest letter which was signed by ANLCA National President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu and copied Shipping Position Daily at the weekend argued that the POF is an additional burden on clearing agents, even as he listed various payments which licensed customs agents are made to pay yearly.
Some of the payments include; N215, 000 Annual License Renewal fee, N6, 000 Annual Nigeria Ports Authority License Renewal fee, N70,000 CRFFN Annual Payment, N15,000 Annual Customs Command Operating Fees payable to various Customs Commands and N52,500 Bank Char ges for Customs Bond.
In the letter, Prince Shittu argued that the fees would amount to additional cost of doing business in Nigeria with multiplier effects adversely on the nation’s economy.
According to ANLCA, ideally, elections into the Governing Board of CRFFN supposed to be held first and the Governing Board inaugurated in order to determine the fate of the Practitioner’s Operating Fees.
The association’s President alleged that despite the absence of a governing board for several years, CRFFN has been receiving budgetary allocations yearly, through the Federal Ministry of Transport, without recourse to accountability.
The ANLCA maintained that: “Adding daily payment of Practitioners' Operating Fees would be financially burdensome on an average Customs Agency/Company which when transferred to the importers/exporters, will eventually bear heavily on the Nigerian economy negatively”
“Equally, we want to state categorically that nowhere in the world is such payment as Practitioner’s Operating Fees being collected from a Customs Agency or Broker. We stand to be corrected, Nigeria being a growing economy should not be saddled with the burden or this Practitioner’s Operating Fees which is a design of some few individuals to distort the national economy for their selfish interests”
“Also, we believe election into the Governing Board of CRFFN should be held and the Governing Board inaugurated to determine the fate of the Practitioners Operating Fees and resolve some other issues, and not the other way round”
“We therefore, appeal to you in the interest of the Nigerian economy generally, to suspend the collection of the practitioner’s Operating Fees indefinitely to avoid the negative effects that the collection would attract to Nigeria, as a Nation”
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi had officially set August 1st 2017 as kick-off date for the collection of the controversial Practitioners Operations Fee (POF) at all entry points into the country, even as he sets September 2017 for elections into the board of the CRFFN.
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