The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has raised alarm over the status of cleared consignments from the seaports ,most especially containers that are intercepted by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
The association also expressed worries over proceeds from the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS), even as it advocated that the Nigeria Customs Service should be allowed to make use of the 1% for upgrading of its facilities.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has raised alarm over the status of cleared consignments from the seaports ,most especially containers that are intercepted by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
The association also expressed worries over proceeds from the 1% Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS), even as it advocated that the Nigeria Customs Service should be allowed to make use of the 1% for upgrading of its facilities.
This position was contained in statement sent to Shipping Position Daily last week in Lagos by the association’s Deputy National President (Seaports), NAGAFF; Prince Obums Anene.
The association alleged that SON often arrest containers cleared out of the Customs control that are on transit for delivery to the owners’ warehouses.
“This notion is wrong and must stop. Licensed Customs agents and freight forwarders have the duty to educate and inform the importers on the need to ensure and abide by regulations.
"However, effort is being made by the legal department of NAGAFF to ascertain the authority of SON to arrest containers in our city highways, other than visiting the owner’s warehouses in search of offending goods or non conformity imports.
" The Office of the Founder of NAGAFF is aware that the worries of freight agents are to the fact that additional cost inherent in demurrage and accumulated debit notes are usually refused to be paid by the importers when the goods are finally delivered to their warehouses."
The statement added that, “as regards the arrest of containers on our city highways by the Enforcement Unit of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), it is most unfortunate that importers are not reasonably compliant to import regulations”
The regulation is mandatory that every import into Nigeria, except pharmaceutical products and chemicals, must be subjected to SONCAP (SON Conformity Assessment Programme) regime for the purposes of quality assurance and standardisation.
"It is most unfortunate that since SON and other agencies of the government have been asked to operate from outside the port, the importers deemed it that the rule of engagement has been abrogated”.
“It is the opinion of the Founder of NAGAFF that SON may wish to factor a stakeholders meeting with a view to addressing the operational hiccups and the worries of practitioners to avoid further damage to international trade borne out of additional cost inherent in demurrage on detained trucks etc.”Anene pointed out.
On the matter of the one per cent administrative charges hitherto paid to the destination inspection service providers under the Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS), the statement noted that founder of the association, Dr Boniface Aniebonam’s attention has been drawn to the worries of agents and their principals with regard to payment of the charges since the expiration of the service providers’ contract.
“The Founder advocates that Nigeria Customs Service cannot be an agent to itself and, therefore, the going forward is to request from the Government an additional incentive to meet up with the challenges."
" It is, therefore, reasonable that Nigeria Customs Service, rather than taking seven per cent of duty collected, should ask for five – seven per cent of the FOB (free on board) value of imports into Nigeria and Nigeria Customs Service should count on our support in this regard,”he stated.
Anene pointed out that: “Whereas our sister-association is canvassing that the one per cent CISS be paid to the agents as a commission because they facilitate the collection of Customs duty from the importers, it is to the knowledge of the Founder that licensed Customs agents are not the agents of Customs or the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He added that the memorandum and article of association of corporate bodies licensed by the Nigeria Customs Service is very clear on the subject matter; that licensed Customs agents are not agents of the Customs but the importers.
According to him, the issue of service charge are to be paid by the importers/exporters to the licensed Customs agents/freight agents.
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