Freight forwarders and licensed customs brokers operating in the maritime industry have said that with a commercial port regulator in place, prices of vehicles in the automobile market will reduce. The reduction, according to them, will come about as a result of reduction in the cost of clearing vehicles from the Roll on Roll off [RoRo] port.
This followed the recent visit by some freight forwarding associations to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council corporate headquarter in Apapa Lagos over the need for a commercial regulator in the nation’s seaport.
Freight forwarders and licensed customs brokers operating in the maritime industry have said that with a commercial port regulator in place, prices of vehicles in the automobile market will reduce. The reduction, according to them, will come about as a result of reduction in the cost of clearing vehicles from the Roll on Roll off [RoRo] port.
This followed the recent visit by some freight forwarding associations to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council corporate headquarter in Apapa Lagos over the need for a commercial regulator in the nation’s seaport.
Some of the freight forwarders who spoke to Shipping Position Daily last week said that the expected transparency on the part of the proposed commercial regulator will create an atmosphere for importers of vehicles to make life easier for those who wish to buy vehicles.
According to them, the cost of clearing vehicles is relatively high in Nigeria, they stressed that government has to establish an agency that can checkmate the concessionaires on the arbitrary charges usually levied on vehicles and even other consignments that are imported through the seaports.
The freight forwarders however stated that the absence of an ombudsman in port business has made Nigerian vehicle importers to patronize neighbouring countries in West Africa, a development which in turn has made the country lose billions of Naira annually.
Deputy National President, Intermodal Logistics of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders [NAGAFF] Mr Nnadi Ugochukwu told our correspondent that with a commercial regulator to supervise port operations, there will be a reduction in charges on vehicles and other consignments.
The former Chairman of the Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited [PTML] chapter of NAGAFF added that with a regulator, there will be about 20% reduction in charges on any import through the ports, even as he affirmed that prices of vehicles in the automobile market where new and used vehicles are sold will drop completely.
‘’We need a regulator on port operation and charges .The charges cut across, be it general cargoes and vehicles, definitely it will tell on the total price and even if it is 20% that is slashed down on the vehicles in the market, it is a plus for the populace who are the buyers and it is long overdue’’, Nnadi stated.
He also went further to say that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has what it takes to become a commercial regulator to monitor port charges, adding that the council’s advisory role has not yielded result because they advised are at liberty to either accept such recommendations or not.
In a similar reaction, another operator, Thompson Kayode called on the government to set up a commercial regulator for the seaports pointing out that the shipping companies and terminal operators are taking that advantage to rip-off Nigerian importers.
According to him, there are some certain charges on imported vehicles that are uncalled for, even as he noted that with a commercial regulator in place such charges would have been aborted and as such will reduce the cost of clearing vehicles from the terminals.
He said that, ‘’the fact remains that if we have a regulator in the port, charges being paid on imported vehicles will reduce and it will also affect the prices of vehicles sold at the various markets where automobile are sold; be it fairly used or even new ones”.
The customs licensed agent also disclosed that, “there is a certain levy we pay on vehicles that goes to NIMASA and I think is nonsensical as far as charges is concerned, but if we have a regulator, I think we would be able to cry to the regulator to look into it.
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