“Task Force Won’t Interfere With Area Commands”— CG, Customs

Acting Comptroller  General of  Customs, Dr Bernard – Shaw Nwadialo has allayed the fears that have been expressed in certain quarters within the shipping community to the effect that the task force on port congestion may pose threat to the command and administrative structures in Lagos ports.
Addressing newsmen shortly after inaugurating the task force, the new Customs boss declared that the task force is a child of circumstances and that it has a specific assignment which is response to the exigency of the time.
“Drastic situations requires drastic solutions, this is not the first time that the ports will be congested”, he stressed adding that any time there is something similar to what the ports are experiencing, measures like task force are usually adopted.
According to him, what has happened is akin to improvisation that will not in any way undermine the works of the customs area command. “As we have said in the communiqué we stated that importers who have done their importation and who have done their SGD , the area commands should continue to handle, while the task force should only concentrate on these consignments that have spent so much time in the ports, so I don’t see how they (Task Force) has taken over the jobs of the commands”, he explained.
The Customs boss’ clarification comes on the heels on insinuation by some freight forwarders that going by precedence, such task forces often undermine the structure of the command in which they are operating and threaten the authourity of the area controller.  
Earlier while addressing a gartering of stakeholders including banks, clearing agents, shipping agents and terminal operators, the Customs boss had singled out lack of integrity in declaration on the part of importers and their licensed customs agents as one of the key factors that led to the congestion which Lagos ports are currently facing and which necessitated the creation of a task force to clear the ports.
“In an environment where discrepancies occur in over 90 per cent of our declarations, so much pressure will be put on the system to enable us separate the compliant traders form the vast majority of those who seek to perpetuate fraudulent practice”, he observed.
According to him, the Nigeria Customs Service has observed that there is a yawning gap in the knowledge of tariff classifications and other essential ingredients that are required to perform efficiently as a licensed customs agent. This is already being addressed by the service, he disclosed. Describing the decision to grant concession to owners of the containers that have been trapped in the ports as a second chance for importers, Dr Nwadialo expressed optimism that affected consignees would come forward within the 60 days grace period to clear their containers.