Since his recent revelations that more than 2000 vehicles have been abandoned at Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited PTML Terminal in Apapa, Lagos, a lot of reactions have been generated.
General Manager of PTML; Mr Tunde Keshinro had told a gathering of licensed customs agents and some senior customs officers at PTML that majority of such vehicles have been abandoned at its terminal by their owners since 2008.
Since his recent revelations that more than 2000 vehicles have been abandoned at Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited PTML Terminal in Apapa, Lagos, a lot of reactions have been generated.
General Manager of PTML; Mr Tunde Keshinro had told a gathering of licensed customs agents and some senior customs officers at PTML that majority of such vehicles have been abandoned at its terminal by their owners since 2008.
And apparently eager to get them out of the port, he announced an incentive of a 70 per cent waiver on such consignments.
While blaming freight forwarders for the high volume of abandoned cargoes and for usually biting more than they can swallow, he specifically said that many clearing agents collect jobs but because of inadequate quotation they are unable to deliver the jobs”
He had stressed that: “A lot of people are bringing vehicles to Nigeria without having their money in their hands to clear it, if you have capacity to bring two vehicles then bring only two and not 10. Gone are the days when people are bringing vehicles to the port to sell, that will not happen again, so please don’t bring vehicles to come and sell”.
The outburst of the PTML top official sums up the plight of terminal operators, who have been made to keep abandoned and overtime cargoes in their facilities for too long, perhaps due to no fault of theirs.
At a point there were more than 4000 overtime containers in Lagos ports alone.
But can the terminal operators be totally absolved of blames? The answer is NO. They have been variously accused of imposing outrageously high charges on consignees.
The agitations against high port charges are not new; it has become a part of concession, so much that freight forwarders have always complained about the charges which are allegedly imposed on them by the terminal operators; in some cases for services not rendered. Their cries have continually fallen on deaf ears.
Freight forwarders have, at every opportunity complained of excessive and arbitrary charges on the part of the terminal operators and shipping companies as well as extortion on the part of customs officers and others.
Some stakeholders have also accused licensed customs agents of standing in the front row to accuse terminal operators of high charges, when they are also guilty of imposing ridiculous charges on importers.
One of the most important parties in the cargo chain is the importer, whom we will like to blame for the plight of the consignments that are abandoned in the terminals. Why will an importer deliberately circumvent import guidelines and risk loss of his cargo or let the cargo be abandoned to the point of being auctioned.
The importer may have circumvented, his licensed customs agent, who is supposed to have enough knowledge of what to do is also an ally of the customs. Standing in between the importer and the customs officials; the clearing agent accounts for majority of the reasons for cargo abandonment in the ports.
It is certainly possible not to have abandoned cargoes in the ports, if the parties will do the right thing by abiding by the import guidelines
While sympathising with the freight forwarders and of course the importers for the mass of abandoned cargoes in the ports, we will like to ask the following questions: Where are the importers in all of these and why should they be silent while freight forwarders face the fire?
Our concern at this point is the hydra headed issue that is called port charges. The freight forwarders do not have regulated charges or scale of charges that are uniform. Secondly, majority of importers do not have sufficient knowledge of the dynamics of port tariffs and charges. Similarly, in spite of port concession, there still exist in the port system several ‘unreceipted’ charges which importers and licensed customs agents pay.
Practically, nothing has changed in the ports except that Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA) is no longer the master stevedore; having handed over terminal operations to the private sector. Also, Customs now does more of 100 per cent examination than before. The ports system still comprise of institutional players such as the Customs (and its private sector service providers who play significant role), NPA itself, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, shipping companies, terminal operators, stevedoring companies, dockworkers, Police and other security agencies; to mention a few.
Persistent complaints over alleged excessive charges can not be blamed solely on terminal operators; rather it further exposes the missing leg on which port concession should be standing on.
It is on record that in spite of repeated calls for the creation of a regulatory agency for post-port concession business relationships, government has done nothing.
Since it is agreed that arbitrary charges contribute largely to cargo abandonment, it is legally not the duty of the NPA to act as commercial regulator and query terminal operators for allegedly imposing higher charges on importers and their agents. It is the duty of the proposed Independent Port Regulatory Commission which is an integral part of the much-expected Port and Harbour Authourity.
A clearer understanding of guidelines on the part of importers, a streamlining of cargo clearance and delivery procedure and willingness to respect these guidelines on the part of customs, terminal operators and licensed customs agents will assist greatly to reduce the incidence of abandoned and overtime cargoes in the nations’ seaports.
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