The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) says poor regulation of shipping lines could undermine the credibility of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) reforms.
SEREC`s Head of Research, Dr Eugene Nweke told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that customs efficiency was linked to the performance of the Nigeria’s maritime and trade ecosystem.
Nweke described the NCS as central to the success of the National Single Window (NSW) risk-based clearance and trade facilitation reforms.
“However, Customs efficiency gains are systematically eroded when upstream shipping practices introduce artificial delays, speculative charges, remote cargo release approvals and opaque cost structures.
“In effect, weak regulation of shipping line conduct externalises inefficiencies into the Customs clearance process, inflates transaction costs, distorts compliance behavior and undermines the credibility of customs-led trade reforms,” he said.
Nweke said that SEREC had submitted a white paper to the government advocating that shipping line governance, port economic regulation, and customs trade administration should be treated as inseparable policy domains.
NAN recalls that SEREC submitted a white paper on sharp practices, regulatory capture risks and systemic failures in Nigeria’s shipping and ports sector to the National Assembly, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and key stakeholders.
It identified core sharp practices in the industry to include prolonged withholding of refunds, remote cargo release authorisation, speculative or projected demurrage billing, unauthorised container diversion and arbitrary charges without cost justification.
SEREC said Nigeria’s port challenges were not only infrastructure-driven but governance-related, warning that weak regulation, missing oversight reports and unchecked discretion in systems like the NSW could undermine reform efforts.
It recommended reforms for Nigeria’s shipping sector, including public release of committee findings, statutory refund timelines with penalties, banning speculative demurrage billing, mandatory local cargo release and alignment of shipping practices with the NSW among others.
Nweke said that the aim of the white paper was to draw attention to sharp practices and regulatory weaknesses that had evolved beyond operational inconveniences into macroeconomic and governance risks.
“For NCS trade reforms to deliver their full impact in 2026 and beyond, shipping practices must align with the same principles guiding Customs modernisation: transparency, predictability, automation, accountability and local control.
“The White Paper was submitted to support government reform objectives, not to contest them and to strengthen Customs-led trade facilitation, not weaken it.
“It also aims to ensure that by 2026, Nigeria’s maritime and trade ecosystem reflects global best practices consistent with the country’s economic ambitions,” he said.
Nweke said that by 2026, stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime industry hope to transition from opaque and arbitrary port operations to a transparent, rules-based system managed through digital technology.
He stressed that the shift should align with ongoing reforms and international best practices, facilitated by the government through providing enabling environment and enforcing regulations
“These include predictable costs, enforceable service standards, transparent billing, time-bound cargo release, and institutional accountability particularly as Nigeria advances the National Single Window (NSW), port economic regulation, and revenue optimisation objectives.
“The expectation is not the creation of new laws, but disciplined enforcement of existing instruments, public disclosure of regulatory outcomes, and insulation of regulators from political and commercial capture,” Nweke said.
