Threatens To Shut Ports Over Auto Policy, Port Infrastructure Decay

The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has threatened to shut down port activities should the Nigeria Customs Service go ahead with the implementation of the new auto policy.
The policy which took effect from yesterday has increased payable revenue on imported vehicles to 75 per cent.
National President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu gave this warning yesterday at an expanded National Executive Council meeting of the association at its new national secretariat in Lagos.

Shittu said that the association has been meeting and working seriously with a sister association; National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) in order to ensure that there is a total withdrawal of service. The two associations have also concluded that it was coming up with an advertorial to be jointly signed by ANLCA and NAGAFF in order to make its position known to the whole world.

Apart from these, the association also indicted the Federal Government for abandoning the Apapa-Oshodi expressway as well as the roads leading to Onne Port in Rivers State where the government generates billions of Naira as revenue.

ANLCA says it has already lost two of its members so far to the bad condition of the roads leading to the ports.

Shittu threatened that failure of government to rise up to the occasion will equally lead to a total collapse of port activities, even as he assured that this will be carried out with supports from the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) and the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) .

Prince Shittu argued that the 35% duty and 35% levy prescribed by the new auto policy is unnecessary. The demand of the freight forwarders however is that government should use a five years rolling plan, a graduated tariff where older vehicles are made to pay higher duty, while the lower the age of the car, the lower the duty.

In the mean time, the association has said that it is on the look-out to see if the Nigerian Customs Service is going to implement the 35% levy before it will kick-start its strike action.

"Anytime customs implements the 35% levy, we will start a series of protests and placard carrying that will eventually lead to the withdrawal of service, many vehicles are now going through the un-approved routes and this is affecting the economy of our members"

"We have a right to protect the interest of the Nigerian shippers more than the interest of government because, government does not care about us, we have been asking them for 1% based on revenue generated, but they have asked us to collect our money from importers" Shittu said.

Continuing, he said, "the government has deliberately ignored the roads leading to Apapa, Tin Can and Onne port"

"The port is already closing itself, now if you want to go to Apapa port you might not get there today, yet the terminal operators and shipping companies are benefiting from this, at the end of the day people turn around to say agents are delaying cargo clearance"

"All approaches to the ports where government is making billions per day, they don't care about them, not even to put palliative measures, many of our importers have lost their cargoes due to containers falling" Shittu lamented.

Already, the association has threatened that it is going to put a stop to the continual collection of fees ranging from N1000 to N2000 as wharf landing fees at the port by the Lagos State Government.

The association also revealed that the State Government has introduced a new fee called; Vehicle License Tag, where every vehicle leaving the ports is now asked to pay N2000.

Prince Shittu has however lambasted the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for failing to look into the ills in port operations, especially the impunity of shipping companies and terminal operators.

According to him, shipping companies have refused to return container deposit fees to freight forwarders and that they have refused to give free days in the clearance process as it’s done in neighbouring ports.

"Everybody is working with impunity in the maritime industry, and the shippers’ council that should be there to do the regulatory role is not there, their days are already running from the one year they are given, they are more interested in how to reduce the number of agents in the port"

"If they cannot salvage the situation, we are going to add this as part of our petition to the government and tell them that we will withdraw our services" Shittu threatened.