Penultimate week’s decision to finally commission and unleash its enforcement officers to the field, may perhaps be the boldest move (and probably the costliest) the six year old Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), has made so far.
Leading a full complement of its management team, the Council’s Registrar; Sir Mike Jukwe reeled out existing sub-enactments within the 2007 Act to remind registered freight forwarding practitioners and non-registered members of the freight forwarding family that is it no longer business as usual.
Penultimate week’s decision to finally commission and unleash its enforcement officers to the field, may perhaps be the boldest move (and probably the costliest) the six year old Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), has made so far.
Leading a full complement of its management team, the Council’s Registrar; Sir Mike Jukwe reeled out existing sub-enactments within the 2007 Act to remind registered freight forwarding practitioners and non-registered members of the freight forwarding family that is it no longer business as usual.
According to the Registrar, the enforcement officers are saddled with responsibilities, such as: ensuring payment of registration and annual subscription fees, use of valid CRFFN identity card and practicing license.
“It will also enforce strict adherence to the Oath of Allegiance and Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics by practitioners as well as the Oath of Allegiance and Operational Guidelines regulating the operations of accredited associations,’’ he had told the crowd that witnessed the ceremony in Lagos.
According to him, the officers would also engage in routine monitoring and raiding of quacks and unregistered freight forwarders to sanitise the ports. He then added a clincher: that the enforcement teams’ function is not limited to cargo clearance and delivery.
He said that CRFFN had registered 1,976 individuals, 567 corporate members, five registered freight forwarding associations and accredited 10 training institutes.
Referring to the enforcement officers, Jukwe tild the gathering that: “These officers that you have seen this morning have been commissioned to go into the ports and ensure that only those who are registered by the council, in line with the Act, are allowed to practice.
As much as the there is need to enforce all laws that any legislature has passed, some regulations may be difficult to enforce. One quick example is the aspect of the Lagos Traffic Law, which restricts movement of articulated trucks to a particular time. Till date, the Lagos state government has tactically avoided its implementation.
Back to the CRFFN, as much as one can’t but agree that there is a very desirable need to ‘whip’ erring freight forwarders into line, the timing of the coming of enforcement officers may generate anxiety.
Apart from this fear, it is hoped that these officers will not be caught in the web of corruption that the nation’s port system is easily known for. It is in the interest of CRFFN not to create a monster that it may not be able to tame.
Importantly also, what level of sensitization has the CRFFN carried out or is willing to carry out to let port users know that its enforcement officers are not an addition to the already long list of hurdles to cross in the cargo clearance and delivery chain.
Perhaps, the most important reason for CRFFN to be cautious is the present state of things as regards its challenges. One, it is still in the process of regaining the once-blossoming ‘friendship’ of its registered associations. Two, the Council is still battling with insufficient funding. Three, it as yet does not have a Governing Council.
It is yet unclear how the enforcement officers will go about their assignment of shifting ‘fake freight forwarders’ from the mass of ‘port users’ who throng the ports every day. In the ports, the difference between a freight forwarder, a motor boy, a ‘kelebe’ and a dockworker is not as easy to figure out as the enforcement officers have been mandated to do.
While the immediate reaction of most registered freight forwarding associations are encouraging, it is also important that the CRFFNM don’t go to sleep, believing that its attempt to sanitise the profession will not at a point lead to stepping on the toes of some association whose members are yet not registered. It is instructive that one or two associations confirmed that most of their members are yet to register with the CRFFN.
Events of the next few weeks (or months) will reveal the extent to which freight forwarding associations and the practitioners are willing to cooperate with the CRFFN in this cleansing exercise.
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