The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Customs tightens noose around smugglers

    Customs tightens noose around smugglers

    • Seme Command deploys men in swampy terrain

    Customs men are turning the heat on smugglers in the border town of Seme in Lagos State.

    They have strengthened their presence at checkpoints and swampy areas where vehicles cannot access, The Nation gathered at the weekend.

    Last Friday, some armed senior officers were seen combing the bushes to find smugglers’ hideout.

    The Seme Customs Command has also beamed its searchlight on travellers, who bring in rice under the pretext that they are for personal consumption.

    The commodity is seized from such travellers, no matter the quantity.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Ernest Olottah, said his boss, Comptroller Willy Egbudin, introduced the measure to curb smuggling. The Comptroller has also taken steps to tackle the problem at communal and inter-agency levels, Olottah said.

    He said: “Comptroller Egbudin has decided to be meeting with traditional rulers, community chiefs, youth leaders, sister government organisations and all stakeholders in the border project on routine basis, and very soon smugglers will in no distant future have no hiding place in this area.

    “The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, has joined the campaign by urging other traditional rulers to key into this patriotic drive to dissuade their community members from smuggling and any other unlawful activity.

    “We have a robust Customs-community relations meeting, like a town hall model kind of interaction. This meeting bridges the gap between Customs officers on duty and the natives.

    “Continuous education and enlightenment in the simplest forms of communication are among Comptroller Egbudin’s strategies to keeping the locals informed and mobilised in supporting Customs efforts for a more economically viable and secured nation.

    “Stakeholders have also joined in expanding our intelligence network as we maximise their advantage of knowledge about the terrain to achieve our aim while also urging their youths to explore the very many legitimate means of livelihood outside smuggling.”

    Contacted, Egbudin said the Customs Comtroller-General, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi’s interest is service to the state.

    ‘’The desire of Customs is to reduce smuggling across the nation. That is why we are meeting with the representatives of the various communities in our effort to build and sustain a robust Customs community relation. The agenda for these meetings include asking them to pass the anti smuggling message to the people.

    “We are also passing the message to all Nigerians too. People are advised to obey the laws of the land, including import and export-related laws.

    “Smuggling is a crime and the more we educate people about it, the better. We achieve prevention through dissuading people to import normally and pay duty to the government.

    ‘’When I came on board, my message to communities and traditional rulers during my familiarisation tour had been a clarion call to partner with us in the protection of the National economy by discouraging smuggling among their subjects.

    “We have been utilising every opportunity at various fora to enlighten the citizenry on the ills of smuggling and this is an area where we also seek collaboration with the mass media,” he said.

  • ‘Why container depots are still idle’

    The Inland Container Depots (ICDs) are yet to take off because they have not been gazetted by the Federal Government, Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC) Executive Secretary Alhaji Hassan Bello has said.

    Until the ICDs are listed as ports of origin and destination, they cannot become functional, he said.

    Since the dry ports were established in 2006 by the government, cargoes have yet to be consigned to them. They are in Isiala Ngwa (Abia State), Ibadan (Oyo), Kano, Funtua (Katsina) and Maiduguri (Borno). Efforts are on by the government to establish one each in Kaduna and Gombe states.

    But the ICDs are yet to solve the perennial port congestion.

    Bello told The Nation that as soon as they are gazetted they would become operational.

    “There is a legal framework, because these ports have to be designated and declared as ports of origin and ports of destination, before they could operate.

    “The Inland Container Depots are ports of origin and ports of destination. The Federal Government is very serious about declaring them as such.The ICDs are being concessioned to private operators and the people are ready to run the dry ports.

    “Dry ports are conceived to solve the problem of perennial port congestion. They are ports in all aspects. It is just that you do not see water. But cargo can be consigned from anywhere to these ports. They are in six locations for now.

    “The essence is to have the ports brought to the doorstep of the shippers.”

    Bello said when the ICDs are ready, shippers would be clearing cargoes from the inland instead of going to the seaports.

    He said there must be a legal framework for the ICDs to be gazetted, adding that the committee set up by the Minister for Transport, Senator Umar Idris had submitted its report on the issue.

    “In a very short time, they will be declared as ports of origin and destination. People can consign cargo, or export cargo from the dry ports.”

    “The ICDs are very significant because they are ports like the Tin-Can Island Port. They are ports in all ramifications in the sense that you will have the presence of Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, terminal operators, clearing agents and other shippers there. With this, the economy would get a boost and there will be industrial clusters around them like warehouses and haulage businesses and other ancillary industries.

    “As a matter of fact, Niger Republic is actually waiting for the commencement of these dry ports so that they can consign their cargo to them. This will be easy because it will make transportation cheap and bring shipping to the door steps of inland shippers,” Bello said.

  • Dikko explains duty free goods

    Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NGS), Dikko Abdullahi has assured Nigerians in Diaspora that items classified under personal effects and charity would not attract duty once supported with appropriate documents.

    He urged entrepreneurs living abroad to classify every cargo they are importing, warning against the importation of contrabands.

    Speaking at a round-table in London with members of Nigerians in Diaspora (NIDO), Dikko urged entrepreneurs to use the on-line trade hub provided by Customs when importing, saying the hub was put in place to simplify the process.

    “In order for us to change the face of the Customs Service, capacity building is a crucial element.

    “We employed 5,000 youths with IT background recently and trained them. We have also been able to train 12,000 officers to boost our operation,’’ he said.

    He urged Nigerians and other importers to support the reforms, saying it is key to President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda.

    In her speech, the NIDO Chairperson in the United Kingdom (UK), Mrs Henrietta Abraham, said the conference had further portrayed the enormous opportunities abound in many sectors of the Nigeria’s economy.

    The event was attended by Nigerian and British investors, as well as members of NIDO and other professional bodies.

  • NIMASA chief vows to fight piracy

    Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr Patrick Akpobolo-kemi has vowed to fight piracy, develop human capacity, ensure safety of vessels and removal of wrecks and mitigate the effects of pollution.

    Akpobolokemi noted that NIMASA owes the international community the obligation to ensure the safety of their vessels, crew and cargoes to foster shipping trade between Nigeria and other parts of the world.

    Receiving the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Samuel Ilesanmi Alade in his office, Akpobolokemi hailed the partnership with the Nigerian Navy, describing both institutions as partners in progress.

    The NIMASA boss noted that the importance of the Navy to the development of the nation’s maritime sector and thanked the Navy for the synergy.

    He commended the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy for their efforts in combating piracy over the years, pledging the agency’s support to the deal to help it carry out effectively, its operations.

    “Piracy is capable of crippling the economy. Since shipping largely contributes to the growth of any economy, the economy cannot thrive where piracy activities are carried out.”

    He said he was happy that the Nigerian Navy created the Central Naval Command, noting that it would help checkmate illegalities in the industry.

    Rear Admiral Alade commended NIMASA’s dogged efforts in ensuring that piracy attacks on the nation’s territorial waters are reduced. He thanked NIMASA for extending human capacity development to the naval personnel in the Maritime Guard Command Unit of the agency.

    Rear Admiral Alade assured NIMASA of a more mutually beneficial relationship, noting that his command would continue to partner with NIMASA for the benefit and good of the nation.

    “The Nigerian Navy will ensure that the partnership between it and NIMASA grows from strength to strength and will continue to work hard to ensure that the nation’s maritime sector is more attractive and business friendly to potential investors,” Rear Admiral Alade said.

  • NPA set to block revenue leakages, boost operation

    Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA) has launched an Information Communication and Technology (ICT) centre to check revenue leakages, improve port operations and provide comfort for members of the shipping community.

    Speaking while test-running the equipment, the Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdullahi, said the centre was open as part of NPA’s efforts to meet with international best practices and solve internal problems faced by the agency.

    He said the centre would be extended to other maritime stakeholders to bring about efficiency in port operations, adding that the objective of the ICT centre is to improve overall efficiency of port operations, block revenue leakages and to provide comfort for members of the shipping community.

    “Management consequently unveiled the following broad initiatives to deliver our vision for overall transformation of the NPA, which includes; identification of revenue leakages and seeking ways to block such leakages,” he said.

    He said that the initiative was aimed at investment in massive infrastructural renewal and development projects geared towards deepening the channel to attract larger vessels and to automate and integrate various ports nationwide using the same information technology platform.

    He said the new development is also expected to change fundamentally and positively the ICT literacy and interaction level within the organisation by bolstering application of computer automation in the organisation processes and drive the ICT culture, stressing that the ICT helpdesk is specifically designed to escalate hard and soft challenges to ICT engineers for prompt response.

    He pointed out that management has also identified the need to establish a call centre for clients across the nation.

  • How smuggling is hindering fishing policy

    How smuggling is hindering fishing policy

    Nigeria’s bid to be self-sufficient in fish production is being threatened by smugglers, The Nation has learnt.

    Lagos and Ogun states are flooded with smuggled fish.

    From Idi-Iroko to Owode, Alapoti, Atan and Sango Ota, all in Ogun State, smugglers are using bush paths to spirit fish into markets.

    The smugglers, Idi-Iroko border sources said, are cashing in on the high price of fish, which is Nigeria’s cheapest source of nutrition and the most commonly eaten delicacy in many homes, to smuggle the item.

    Some of the smuggled fish are Croaker, ‘Kote’, Titus and Sabalo.

    The illicit fish business, the sources added, is booming because the Federal Government has discouraged fish importation.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akin-wunmi Adesina, has put the total demand for fish in the country at 2.7 million tonnes, of which 800,000 tonnes are produced locally. The 1.9 million tonnes deficit, according to him, is met with imports.

    He said 271 attacks were reported on vessels operating on the territorial waters between February 2009 and September, last year, adding that this led to a drastic reduction in the number of fishing fleet from about 230 vessels to 119 vessels, with only 10 firms in operation in recent years.

    “In 2013, a total of 3.6 million juveniles, 36,000 bags of 15kg of feed and 200 water testing kits were provided to fishermen in 10 states, at a total cost of N1.5 billion.”

    Adesina noted some illegalities in fish importation and production, stressing that continued corruption in fish import had made Nigeria a dumping ground for fish.

    He said fish importers have corrupted public officials to give licences away above their available cold room-warehouse capacities.

    The minister said: “Fish importers are cheating and are not paying the amounts due to the government for licence. Even more worrisome is that there is no cold storage capacity in the country to keep 5.9 MT of fish.

    “So, what is being imported and declared as fish? Allegations are rife of dubiousness among importers who declare fish for imports, but are actually importing other things, including cars.”

    Adesina, however, said the government has not banned the import of fish.

    He said: “It is important to make it clear that the government has not banned the importation of fish, as is being misinterpreted by unscrupulous fish importers.

    “The Federal Government had at no time placed a wholesale ban on the importation of frozen fish into the country. The only fish being strictly regulated and put under prohibition from being imported without control, is farmed fish.”

    Investigation revealed that the smuggled fish is kept on passenger buses and specially refurbished vehicles heading for Lagos and Sango area of Ogun State.

    A fish trader at the popular Owode Market in Ado-Odo Ota area, who refused to give her name, narrated the reason they are dealing on imported fish from Cotonou. “I lost a lot of money when the vehicle bringing my rice to the town was impounded by Customs in December. The period was a very bad to me. But in February, my friend introduced me to the fish business and I decided to try it. My experience is that there not much attention on fish like rice, and the profit we make on fish is higher than that of rice. The highest profit anybody can make on rice is between N100 and N150 per 50kg bag, while we make between N400 and N450 on 20kg cartoon of fish,” she said.

    She said fish is a delicacy in the country and its demand is so high that ‘business people’ continue to travel long distances from inland towns and risk being arrested to smuggle fish in.

    Every Thursday and Friday, she said many men and women flock to Cotonou and other neighbouring countries to buy fish.

    Investigation at Idi-Iroko revealed that there must be effective policing of all the paths leading to the border by Customs to check the menace.

    Customs, investigation revealed, also needs to do a lot to track down the fish smugglers and stop their illicit business by embarking on effective border patrol as the smugglers are using various vehicles to bring the items to town.

    The former President, Nigeria Trawler Owners Association (NITOA), Mrs Margret Orakuwsi, said for a country with an estimated population of 174 million by 2015, the demand for fish would increase to 2.1 million metric tonnes (mt) and with an estimated production of 740,000 mt, there would be a shortfall in supply of about 1.4 million mt.

    She said any further reduction in fish supply would cause the price to increase and this would affect Nigerians who depend on imported fish for animal protein to feed their families.

    The image maker of the group, Manny Philipson, said: “The argument of exporting jobs abroad for what we can produce locally does not arise as, domestically, we cannot match the quantity, the Omega 3 healthy oils, or taste that imported pelagic fish provides.

    “Rather than resorting to protectionism; we should encourage free trade, that is, support our local fishing industry to export more Nigerian prawns and use those export earnings to import cheaper, more abundant pelagic fish species.”

  • Customs redeploys over 200 officers

    NO fewer than 200 officers from the Tin-Can Island port have been redeployed by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi.

    Sources said many of those affected were Assistant Superintendents of Customs.

    “Two hundred officers at the level of Assistant Superintendents of Customs Grade two were redeployed, but I don’t know if it is as a result of the CGC’s visit to the port last week or not,” the officer said.

    Meanwhile, the Customs has vowed to take economic sabotage and national security serious.

    Speaking at a meeting with leaders of freight forwarding associations at Tin Can port, Controller, Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU), Mr. Tajudeen Olanrewaju, said cases of “cut and lock” would be treated as economic sabotage and national security threat, warning that any Customs officer who flouts the directive would be sanctioned.

  • Terminal operators seek subsidy on freight for landlocked nations

    The Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) has urged the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to subsidise the landlocked countries’ transactions at the seaports.

    The group said handling transshipment cargo for Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries is not commercially viable.

    STOTAN said the conditions under which NPA handled transshipment cargoes in the pre-port concession era were not favourable to the ports.

    It said terminal operators would handle transshipment cargoes of the landlocked nations only if NPA was willing to pay the shortfall charged by shippers of the affected countries.

    Its Chairman, Princess Vicky Haastrup, who spoke in Lagos, said that unless NPA was willing to subsidise the landlocked countrits’ transactions, her members would not have anything to do with their cargoes.

    She said the rates which NPA charged the landlocked countries, including Chad and Niger Republic for the handling of the consignments, were too low .

    “NPA as a government agency, was probably playing the normal “big brother” role to the neighbouring African countries, but we are private people, we cannot do that ‘Father Christmas’ for anybody. If the land-locked countries are ready to pay the normal rates in cargo handling, we will be very willing to do business with them,” she said.

    The STOAN chairman said the concessionaires at the seaports had achieved a lot in the past eight years of port concession.

    “We are proud of our achievements at the ports these past eight years. We have done a lot. We have improved operation and modernised the ports. Before now, equipment and cargo availability were a huge challenge at the ports. Vessels had to queue endlessly to secure berthing space. The ports were run down, but the story is different. We have port terminals that Nigerians measures to port terminals in developed countries and that Nigerians can be proud of,” she said.

    Haastrup also said the port environment is congested due to the activities of non-core port operations including tank farms which she said are “too close to the ports.”

  • Shipowners, stakeholders seek removal of waiver clause

    The Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) and other stakeholders have urged the Federal Government to remove the waiver clause from the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act (Cabotage Act of 2013).

    This, they said, would improve the business of indigenous shipowners.

    NISA Chairman Chief Isaac Jolapamo said over 50 per cent of firms have been shut due to the poor implementation of the Cabotage Law.

    He said NISA canvassed the position at the stakeholders’ meeting with the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, on policy guidelines for the granting of waivers under the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 otherwise known as the Cabotage Law.

    “The removal will help to address the plight of indigenous ship owners whose businesses have been damaged,’’ Jolapamo, said, adding that it was sad that indigenous ship owners were not doing well despite that they started business in Nigeria.

    He urged the government to implement the report of the Presidential Committee on Development of the Maritime Industry to assist NISA.

    NISA’s Secretary, Capt. Niyi Labinjo, also called for the removal of the waiver clause, saying his colleagues members are owing banks over $3 billion (N480 billion).

    The waiver clause, according to Labinjo, has been made more important by the Ministry of Transport to the detriment of the implementation of the Cabotage Law itself.

    “I am alarmed at the kind of vessels that are granted waiver in Nigeria. Instead of giving waivers to specialised vessels in consonance with the dreams of the initiators of the Act, we end up giving waivers to anchor handling and tankers which the Act did not envisage for waivers.

    “In other climes, they do not leave the administration of waiver to be handled by the ever busy government officials like the Minister, Permanent Secretary or NIMASA, but rather, it’s an all-inclusive exercise where applications are received by the agency concerned and forwarded to the stakeholders who do the needful and make recommendations to the implementing agency which now carries out the recommended action,” Labinjo said.

    In a related development, the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) has called for the establishment of an independent body to review all applications for import waivers and concession.

    NANTS said the demand was meant to ensure transparency and accountability.

    The President of the association, Mr Ken Ukaoha made the appeal in a statement made available to reporters.

    He said the policy could only be measured by its impact in promoting the common good.

    “Weak institutions produce dysfunctional policies and dysfunctional policies only breed corruption, waste and retrogression, and this is what we are facing with the waivers and concessions,’’ it said.

    The NANTS chief said the body would be drawn from the private sector, civil society, consumer associations, academia and representatives of relevant government agencies, such as the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council.

    He said the use of waivers and concessions was one of the legitimate tools any government could use for economic development and poverty eradication.

    “Waivers and concession could also be used as an instrument to regulate the economy like tariff. In principle, waivers and concessions themselves are not bad.

    “By nature, waivers and concession are prone to abuse and that is why any serious nation ought to pay attention to the manner such instruments are administered,” he added.

  • Operators score PAAR high

    Operators score PAAR high

    The Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) introduced about four months ago by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is fast-tracking goods clearance at the ports, operators have said.

    PAAR processes, according to them, are in tandem with international best practice, enhancing trade, economic competitiveness, revenue collection and border security.

    They, however, decried delays at the ports after they have completed PAAR processes.

    The National President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, said PAAR, unlike the Risk Assessment Report (RAR), has made cargo clearance easy.

    He said the intelligence report by Customs Investigation Unit (CIU), System Audit, the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), shipping firms and other stakeholders was being studied by Customs to identify high risk shipments.

    The ANLCA chief noted that PAAR provides a timely multi-dimensional risk analysis at every stage of Customs processes and is a critical to clearance procedure.

    The delay associated with the release of cargo, despite the introduction of PAAR, the ANLCA chief said, should be blamed on some importers who, he claimed, make wrong entries, and some Customs officers, who are determined to corrupt the system.

    But the Intelligence Component of PAAR, Shittu said, is facilitating the management of data across multiple agencies as part of the Integrated Risk Management Approach by Customs and other security agencies.

    Shittu, however, pointed out that some of the hiccups in PAAR are the non-availability of bench-mark by Customs and the failure of some importers to declare their goods correctly.

    “The issue of bench-mark is very essential so that importers will know the amount they are going to pay for a particular container they are importing and PAAR would be more successful,” he said.

    The Chairman, Shipping Investment Limited, Mr Gbeleyi Ojodu, said PAAR provides the support-base for Valuation Risk Assessment in compliance with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Customs Valuation.

    Commodities sensitive from valuation angle, Ojodu said, are identified and reviewed as vital for accurate assessment of duties, prevent capital flight and capture correct trade data required by importers.

    He said some of the advantages of PAAR include digitalisation of import documentation; expert tariff classification tool; assessment of Customs; import export commodity database; detail intelligent risk configuration encompassing; issuance of PAAR; SMS alert integration service; confirmation of transaction value by the supplier; flagging up of high risk commodities; fast-tracking of trusted traders and third Party pricing data, among others.

    But an importer, Mr Deji Pitan said PAAR has not translated to quick clearance of goods from the ports.

    Some Customs officer, Pitan said, still query PAAR after it had been issued and subject containers to physical examination, thereby delaying cargo clearance.

    The officers, he alleged, subject their cargoes to physical examination to extort importers and their clearing agents.

    But Customs National Public Relations Officer Wale Adeniyi said PAAR provides a standard format for classifying goods. The Common External Tariff Concordance, he said, had been linked to the Customs PAAR for easy navigation and accurate classification.

    “When an importer made a wrong classification, there is no way he would not have problem in getting his goods out of the port.

    “The Concordance contains a list of HS code and serves as an integrated search engine in order to facilitate accurate classification of goods.

    “The user are guided by the system on how to classify his product as well as other relevant information like whether the item is prohibited or not. It is not enough to say you are importing spoon or radio. You must be able to state the type and the place of origin,” Adeniyi said.

    He said the Comptroller-General of Customs has directed NCS’officers to address all traders in their local languages for proper understanding of PAAR.

    As part of plans to make stakeholders key into the scheme, Adeniyi said Help Desks and dedicated communication hotlines were provided to enable stakeholders and the public to channel complaints, observations and suggestions on the process.

    The image maker said the Help Desks are provided at the Customs Headquarters, Abuja and other Commands across the Country.

    He said such feedbacks can also be channelled through some dedicated numbers, including 09 4621597, 09 4621598 and 09 4621599.

    Customs Deputy Comptroller, ICT Operations, Mr Bashar Yusuf also said that traders would have their cargoes released immediately from the port with the genuine documents processed through PAAR.

    “The cargoes would be cleared before arrival, once other government agencies operating at the port confirmed the documents through PAAR,’’ he said.