The Nigeria Agriculture Quarantine Service (NAQS) has urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to grant the service free access to cargo manifests immediately ships arrived in Nigerian ports.
Coordinator, South West Zonal Headquarters of NAQS, Mr James Akogun, appealed that the service should be allowed to determine what should be inspected through the manifest.
The Nigeria Agriculture Quarantine Service (NAQS) has urged the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to grant the service free access to cargo manifests immediately ships arrived in Nigerian ports.
Coordinator, South West Zonal Headquarters of NAQS, Mr James Akogun, appealed that the service should be allowed to determine what should be inspected through the manifest.
Throwing more light, he said, “we usually receive alert from customs through the ‘single window’, but when our officers get to the assigned terminals, customs will tell them that the goods have been released.
“The single window system has become operative partially. We have been receiving alerts, but we have not been able to check five per cent of the cargoes, “ Akogun said.
He said that the routine check was essential for the service to prevent influx of unhealthy foreign pests.
Akogun said that if the service was able to check the cargoes as a result of the alert, it would go a long way in assisting officers in doing their jobs.
He urged the Nigeria Customs Service to establish systems that would enable quarantine officers to inspect some containers before they are released.
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