The Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition, has advised the Federal Government to hand over the destination inspection scheme to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in July.
The Chairman of the Coalition, Mr Chukwu Osita, said in Lagos yesterday that, “it will be better and cheaper for the country if customs takes over’’.
“I have not seen what the service providers are doing that the customs cannot do.
The Save Nigerian Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition, has advised the Federal Government to hand over the destination inspection scheme to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in July.
The Chairman of the Coalition, Mr Chukwu Osita, said in Lagos yesterday that, “it will be better and cheaper for the country if customs takes over’’.
“I have not seen what the service providers are doing that the customs cannot do.
“They (customs) have been training for the past six years and it is time they were given the chance to practice what they have been taught.
“The customs should be allowed to take over the destination inspection because we are not getting the service and all the problems associated with destination inspection scheme are still there.
“We expect that with the service providers, the problems will be eliminated, but shippers still continue to have problems,’’ Osita said.
He, however, said that if government thought that the service was not ready to take over, then some staff working with the service providers should be employed by the customs.
The Destination Inspection contract, which commenced in 2006, was to terminate in December 2012, but for the six months extension granted by the Federal Government.
Osita said that the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) should be reviewed for the nation to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance target.
“Customs has in its CEMA law a column that enables it to inspect more than one cargo and this is one of those things that cause bottleneck.
“ It is a section that should be done away with because I believe it is obsolete. When the service takes over, it should ensure that whatever is inspected should not be truncated,” he said.
Osita, however, commended the government for improvements recorded at the nation’s ports.
“There is lot of improvement, but it has not got to a stage where it can be compared to developments in some other ports of the world,’’ he said.
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