Apparently worried about the manner in which his members implicated in any irregularities in the clearing process, President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Prince Olayiwola Shittu has advised members of the association to stop paying customs duties on behalf of their importers.
The ANLCA president said the agents were often blamed for the wrong doings of the importers, and this, according to him, has been the bane of lack of understanding between the Customs and agents.
Apparently worried about the manner in which his members implicated in any irregularities in the clearing process, President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Prince Olayiwola Shittu has advised members of the association to stop paying customs duties on behalf of their importers.
The ANLCA president said the agents were often blamed for the wrong doings of the importers, and this, according to him, has been the bane of lack of understanding between the Customs and agents.
He charged his members to desist from paying duty on behalf of importers, which he said has often made many of them scapegoats.
Shittu was of the view that many policies of the Nigeria Customs Service failed to achieve set goals because agents were not carried along in policy making, he therefore called for a symbiotic relationship between the Service and agents.
"There is a missing link between Customs and agents is confidence. For Customs to draw up any policy there is the need to hold discussion with agents, to elicit their inputs.
"If we are holding meeting regularly, some of the issues mitigating cargo clearance would have been tackled. Revenue target and trade facilitation cannot work together and that is why cargo document are being delayed by officers in the interest of revenue," Shittu noted.
Speaking further, Shittu noted that blocking of license is rampant and officers are deliberately taking advantage of the revenue target to extort agents. He urged the Customs authority to do something quickly to stop the act, appealing to his members who licenses are blocked to liaise with the appropriate Customs Area Controllers for unblocking.
Reacting to the issue of blocking, Assistant Controller General; Mr Victor Gbemudu who stood in for the Comptroller General of Customs Abdullahi Inde Dikko said the agents should ask themselves why their licenses were blocked, he however directed all areas controller to look into the matter.
However, CAC of Murtala Muhmmed Airport, Ikeja, Comptroller Edike Epowei advanced reason for blocking of licenses. He said many licensed agents were fond of ‘stamping’ for those who are not agents, urging ANLCA to think of how to address the matter.
In his goodwill message, Chairman of Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Alhaji Hakeem Olarenwaju talked about the need for agents to embrace the training initiative of the Council.
He said the world is changing so also the profession, saying that 75 percent of agents working in the ports are not trained. He urged members of ANLCA who have not registered to take advantage of the open window and do so.
Making the closing remark, Sir Henry Njoku, Chairman Board of Trustees of ANLCA, advised the Council to reduce the cost of its training programme to give agents ample opportunity to partake.
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