Barring any last minute change, the duo of APM Terminal in Apapa port and its sister terminal operator; West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in Onne port are expected to being commencement of implementation of payment of Practitioners Operating Fees (POF) at their terminals today (July 1, 2022).
The two terminal operators, which had been roundly-condemned by the Ministry of Transportation for failure to comply with the directive on collection of POF, however in separate letters addressed to their customers, had notified that payment of POF will commence in July, 2022.
In a letter sent to clearing agents, the APMT said that henceforth payment of POF would be condition precedent to taking delivery of their consignments at the Apapa terminal.
In the letter that was sighted by Shipping Position Daily, APMT notified that: “We would like to inform you that the POF payment is now a mandatory requirement for issuing TDO and APMT will start enforcing the POF collection based on the directive from the Federal Ministry of Transportation from Friday, July 1, 2022”.
“APMT would require all agents and freight forwarders to present payment evidence of Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) before TDO is issued, (No POF, No TDO).
“We would like to encourage you once again to visit the CRFFN portal and make your POF Payments as we are duty-bound to enforce and notify CRFFN of the compliance level”.
Our correspondent confirmed that, prior to the latest development; APMT had earlier notified its customers on April 29, 2022 of the need to comply with government’s directive on POF.
Similarly, the Onne port-based WACT, in a letter dated June 24, 2022 and addressed to its customers, notified that payment of POF by clearing agents at its terminal is effective July 1, 2022.
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In the letter, a copy of which was also sighted by our correspondent, WACT notified clearing agents that: “In line with the directive of the Ministry of Transportation, customers are required to produce evidence of payment of Practitioner Operating Fee (POF) before cargo release (TDO).”
It added that, “POF is Practitioners Operating Fee collected by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria and terminals have been mandated to confirm payment before release of imported cargoes”
“We encourage you to visit the CRFFN portal and make your POF Payments as we are duty-bound not to release container that the POF has not been paid (No POF, No TDO).”
“Please note that the commencement date for full implementation is 1st July 2022”, the statement added.
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