A freight forwarder; Chief Eugene Nweke has said the recent extension of destination inspection contract of the service providers was to guarantee smooth take-over of its operations to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Nweke, who is the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
The Federal Government recently granted the Destination Inspection Service Providers a five-month extension from June to November.
A freight forwarder; Chief Eugene Nweke has said the recent extension of destination inspection contract of the service providers was to guarantee smooth take-over of its operations to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Nweke, who is the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), said this in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
The Federal Government recently granted the Destination Inspection Service Providers a five-month extension from June to November.
The service providers are: Global Scansystems Ltd.; Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS); and Cotecna Destination Inspection Ltd.
Nweke said that the Federal Government had shown seriousness in handing over the inspection scheme to customs, adding that government had requested that the service providers should provide a handing over plan.
According to the NAGAFF president, the one per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) charge, which government has been paying the service providers since 2006, has the capacity to reduce unemployment in the country by 35 per cent.
He stated that:“Government has a right to respect business contract. They have to do some of those things for political reasons. I brought that school of thought from India that if foreign investment and operation would exploit the people, then it should be reviewed”.
“Nigeria Customs Service in its own wisdom, in preparation to take over from the service providers, went and engaged the services of the manufacturers of these scanners, he disclose, even as he added that ‘these service providers, they are not the manufacturers of the scanners; they procure them from the manufacturers.“Nigeria customs went and brought, invited and engaged the services of the manufacturers to come and audit all the scanners that had been installed within customs formation.“
Nweke alleged that most of the scanners installed by the service providers had expired, saying that this was the reason why most of the scanners could not scan for longer period of time.
He urged the service providers to convince the shippers within the five months extension of their contract that they would do the job effectively.
He said that this would stop shippers from incurring demurrage at the ports.
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