Nigerian Banks have demanded the outright ban of the hard copy of ship manifest, saying that that “the non-electronic copy has contributed to the delay of the cargo clearance process and sometimes sharp practices”.
Nigerian Banks have demanded the outright ban of the hard copy of ship manifest, saying that that “the non-electronic copy has contributed to the delay of the cargo clearance process and sometimes sharp practices”.
Speaking at a recent meeting organized by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria,(CBN) in Lagos to intimate the bankers with the new system of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), Deputy Comptroller of Customs in charge of PAAR real time in Abuja, Mr. Ony Egboma said that the issue hard copy of ship manifest has been banned for a long time and remains banned.
The bankers were of the view that about 20 percent of importers still submit hard copy of ship manifest as against the electronic copy which is meant to ease the cargo clearance process.
At the meeting, the bankers noted that the practice by local shipping firms to produce ship manifest in Nigeria is against the rule of shipping.
They argued that the law guiding international shipping says that ship manifest must leave the country of loading 48 hours before departure.
One of the bank officials who attended the meeting; Michael Onwujika of Citi Bank told the meeting that manual ship manifest must be stopped, so as to make the electronic copy more efficient.
He said that some ship manifest are produced by shipping companies and then transmitted to the relevant authorities for onward processing.
Another banker; Taiwo Egbeyemi demanded that both the Customs and the Banks should strategise to ensure the ship manifest getto banks 48 hours before the arrival of the vessel.
Commenting on the matter, Mr. Lucky Amiwero said that most the shipping firms commit fraud with ship manifest that are produced in Nigeria.
He alleged that when the original ship manifest gets to the local representatives in Nigeria, they (local representatives) doctor the document such that what is originally on the ship manifest is at variance with what is produced by the local shipping firm.
“At the end of the day, what is carried on the vessel is under declared and in the process government is short changed” .he said
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