There are indications that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council may be tinkering with the idea of pruning down the number of freight forwarding associations in the maritime sector as a way of bringing sanity into the system.
Executive Secretary of the Council, Barrister Hassan Bello dropped the hint on Monday when he visited the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mallam Habib Abdullahi at the authority's headquarters in Marina, Lagos.
There are indications that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council may be tinkering with the idea of pruning down the number of freight forwarding associations in the maritime sector as a way of bringing sanity into the system.
Executive Secretary of the Council, Barrister Hassan Bello dropped the hint on Monday when he visited the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Mallam Habib Abdullahi at the authority's headquarters in Marina, Lagos.
Bello noted with concern the large number of freight forwarders trooping into the port on daily basis under the guise of clearing cargoes, he said that this is uncalled for.
According to him, many of the freight forwarders were uneducated and inexperienced, he described some of them as mere touts.
The Shippers’ Council boss who was addressing the NPA boss on the various challenges in the port system, assured that the Council has been given the mandate to reorganize and professionalise freight forwarders.
Shipping Position Daily learnt that the Council was recently directed by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar to bring sanity into the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN).
"We also have the problem of swam or multitude of so called freight forwarders, we have the mandate to reorganize the freight forwarding business and professionalise them", he stated.
"If they are professionals and knowledgeable, they are the ones that will be able to negotiate and stop certain charges, but they are not, they are just like touts, so to say, and we cannot have that"
"Why do we have thousands of so called freight forwarders when we can have only six companies as freight forwarders, they must be standardized and complement the efforts of the NPA in the port"
He said that the role of the Council also entails mediating between stakeholders to bring about port efficiency.
Apart from these, Bello complained that despite the gains of the port reform exercise, there is the challenge of increase in tariffs which are unilaterally and arbitrarily done by terminal operators and shipping companies.
"We also have problems in the clearance procedure, the presence of agencies at the ports has reduced, but we can do with less" he said.
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