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Tag: ANLCA

  • How to make ports road motorable, by agents

    How to make ports road motorable, by agents

    Agents have found a partial solution to the dilapidated Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos.

    They are asking the Federal Government to use part of the money made from the ports to fix the roads leading to the Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports.

    In a petition, the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) said it was sad over the deplorable Lagos and Onne port roads. It lashed the government for the poor state of the roads, which they said is affecting quick cargo delivery, endangering workers’ lives and making things difficult for those are living and doing businesses around the areas.

    The letter, signed by ANLCA’s president, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, sought explanation on what the government uses the money realised from the ports for.

    The petition it copied the National Confrence, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy/Minister of Finance, Ministers of Transport, Works and Housing and Urban Development, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Lagos State Governor, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    A source said ANLCA and other  stakeholders became worried when they learnt that previous efforts by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to get the government to mend the roads failed.

    “Is it good to read on the pages of newspapers that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generates over N70 billion monthly from the Lagos ports without any corresponding development of the roads that lead to the ports?” the source queried.

    “Even the Customs Comptroller-General, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi, said it recently at a forum in London that the service generates about N100 billion monthly and we are sure that about 80 per cent of the amount is generated in Lagos, why is the government finding it difficult to develop port infrastructure to make it attractive for business and generate more money? ” the source said.

    Shittu said the group met and resolved that the government should be asked to fix the roads.

    He said: “Letters to the Federal Government alone, this time around, will not be enough. Advertisement of such interventions in the newspapers may follow, to put pressure on the Federal Government to intervene, to save the lives of Nigerians suffering and dying on these roads everyday.

    “ANLCA is cooperating with other equally concerned stakeholders in the maritime sector of the economy, to articulate and strategise on the best way to tackle the menace of the completely broken down road infrastructure, that is affecting the delivery of Cargoes, endangering the lives of workers in and around Apapa, and generally making life unbearable for Nigerians around these areas.

    “Other operational challenges in the ports were discussed and we resolved that they should be aggregated in writing, for appropriate action, especially against some shipping companies, through their home countries.”

    By resolving to go through their home countries to resolve the challenges, Shittu said,  it was in the realisation of this that their regulators have been compromised to look the other way, Nigerians are continuously extorted by these shipping firms and some terminal operators.

    The ANLCA chief also said he was aware that the Lilypond Customs Command at Ijora, Lagos alone, collected N2.2 billion revenue in April and another N2.37 billion in May not talk of of other big commands in Apapa and Tin-Can ports.

    Shittu berated the poor development of port infrastructure by the Federal Government, urging President Goodluck  Jonathan to address the issue.

  • Scrap apprenticeship, ANLCA urges

    The Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has called for the abolition of the age-long practice of apprenticeship in freight forwarding, saying the practice is obsolete.

    ANLCA National President Olayiwola Shittu told The Nation that freight forwarding associations ought to encourage their staff and members to attend institutions accredited by the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to be acquainted with the job before being engaged.

    He said there are many schools accredited by CRFFN where people could learn the theory of freight forwarding so that it would be easier for them to handle the practical aspects when they are eventually employed.

    “It is only in our  ports where one person would want to go and do cargo examination and five to six people would follow him, and when you ask what they are going to do, they tell you they are apprentices. It baffles me.

    “I was never an apprentice; what do you call apprentice in this modern day that anybody can go to school and learn freight forwarding, even online? he asked.

    He said one of the reasons ANLCA has acquired a new national secretariat is for its hall to be transformed into a training centre, adding that the facility  would be put at the disposal of  CRFFN for training.

    He said the leadership of the association would undergo regular training to increase their knowledge and become trainers.

    Besides, Shittu justified the collection of practising fees at the ports by freight forwarding associations, saying that the money which  is being collected at the chapters is supported by  members.

    He said this was an arrangement among the associations at the chapter level, arguing that the practice is  not limited to the association alone. He added that its critics were those  who were not factored into the collection because they do not have members.

    “Each chapter generates revenue for its members, and this is why they sit down and say they will be paying certain amounts; the members who are paying have their chairmen and executives to contend with.

    “There is no way ANLCA will collect this money alone because there are other associations whose members are there. An association without members cannot be factored in,’’ he added.

    He said ANLCA cannot cede the money realised from its membership to other bodies without members’ knowledge.

  • ANLCA kicks as new auto policy kicks off

    ANLCA kicks as new auto policy kicks off

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has criticised the Federal Government over implementation of the new national automotive policy which hiked the import duty on imported vehicles from 10 per cent to 35 per cent and an additional levy of 35 per cent.

    The ANLCA restated its opposition to the controversial policy at a meeting held between the national leaders and chapter executives of the association in Lagos.

    Sources at the meeting said, the group reviewed the auto policy and concluded that it has serious implication on their job and the interest of general public.

    The meeting, the source said, discuss the effects of the Federal Government policy on imported vehicles into the country;  Nigeria Shippers’ Council  intention to downsize or increase share capital of freight forwarding agencies; the chartering of ANLCA as a custom brokerage professional organisation and the movement of ANLCA Secretariat from the old secretariat to the new permanent secretariat, along Durbar Road, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos in Lagos.

    The group noted that in as much as the policy is not for agents to contest but the fact that they are part of a larger society, ANLCA said the policy needs to be reappraised by the Federal Government, in the overall interest of Nigerians.

    At the meeting, the source said, its National President Prince Olayiwola Shittu who presided over the meeting,  at a point, yielded the Chairmanship of the meeting to the Zonal Coordinator West and East Sir John Ofobike and Chief Dennis Okwu, to show how serious they view the auto policy and to forestall the use of the emergency powers of the President to sanction some erring Chapters’ Executives.

    Contacted,  the Director of Media and Publicity, ANLCA President, Mr Joe Sanni said: “Members were very critical of the Federal Government’s policy on vehicle importation and its implication on sustenance, its effect on licensed Customs Agents job and the general public, which was seen as impacting negatively on Nigerians.

    “It was noted that as much as the policy is not for agents to contest, the fact that Agents are part of a larger society, meant that such policy needed to be reappraised by the Federal Government, in the interest of Nigerians generally.

    “This is against the backdrop of the policy’s negative effects on jobs/unemployment and the general welfare of the ordinary Nigerians.

  • Fresh crisis looms at ports over PAAR

    Fresh crisis looms at ports over PAAR

    A fresh crisis is looming at the ports over the administration of Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) recently introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service.

    Many importers and clearing agents are not happy with the introduction of the PAAR and are planning to shut down the ports over the delay caused by the scheme, according to sources close to the Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA).

    The ports, one source said, might be shut down before the end of the week.

    The National Executive Council of ANLCA has already summoned an emergency meeting to reconsider its relationship with the Customs on the issue.

    The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at the association’s National Secretariat.

    Importers are worried about the development, which they say may delay the clearing of their goods.

    Spokesman of the importers, Alaba Arogundade, urged the Customs and clearing agents to resolve the matter amicably to save them from paying demurrage to terminal operators.

    Arogundade said: “When PAAR was introduced, Customs promised us that it would take us few hours to get our goods out of the ports. But the delay we are facing now is even more than when RAR was in operation.

    “Therefore, there is an urgent need for the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar to call a meeting of stakeholders that would resolve the crisis between Customs and clearing agents in the interest of peace and the nation’s economy”.

    Contacted, the National President of ANLCA, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, confirmed tomorrow’s emergency meeting but  refused to disclose the agenda of the meeting.

  • ‘No banned goods come through Seme border’

    ‘No banned goods come through Seme border’

    A former Secretary of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chief Sam Madubuike has massive importation of rice, frozen foods, vegetable oil, used clothes and cars come into Nigeria through the Seme border.

    He said pictures of banned goods published in an online medium, which had bushes in it, were not taken as the border as it has no such bushes.

    Madubuike, who is the Chairman/Managing Director of Sam Express Cargo Services Limited, said the report is a figment of the writers imagination designed to give agents at Seme Border a bad name.

    Conducting reporters around the examination bay at Asipa and the Scanning site, he said inspections are carried out in the open, adding that journalists can investigate the ‘false report’ further to determine if it is true.

    According to him, over 15 security agencies at the border partake in the physical examination of all goods and trucks that pass through the fixed scanner.

    Madubuike said sometimes, only two trucks come into Nigeria per day through Seme as many importers use the sea ports to avoid paying dual duties in Cotonou and Nigeria.

    On the allegation that 2.3 million tonnes of parboiled rice come in through the border, Madubuike said that could not be possible as it amounts to over two ship loads of cargo.

    He said any agent or importer of banned goods should be named and prosecuted, adding that licensed clearing agents are determined to work with Nigerian Customs Service to rid the country of banned goods.

    “Seized rice and frozen foods are destroyed daily here. No enlightened man who wants to live long will collect decayed products or unbranded and unhealthy rice from a smuggler to eat.

     

  • ANLCA backs CRFFN’s fee collection at ports

    THE Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has lent its support to the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to collect practising fees from freight forwarders at the airports, seaports and land borders.

    Its National President, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, said it is in the best interest of ANLCA to support the collection approved by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar.

    The government approved following transaction fees for airports, seaports and land borders cargoes: N1.50 per kilo for air cargoes; N1,000 per 20ft container; N2,000 per 40ft container; N500 per car/Jeep; N1,000 per truck or 20ft equivalent; N2,000 per truck or 40ft equivalent; N3.50 per ton for general cargo and N1 per ton for dry bulk cargo.

    The government also okayed registration fees for Nigerians and non-Nigerians, ranging from N7,500 to N50,000, depending on the category of membership.

    Similarly, yearly subscription fees ranging from N10,000 to N60,000 were approved.

    And to ensure compliance, the ministry directed the Central Office Planning and Information (COPI) of the NPA to “henceforth forward copies of all cargo manifests received to the CRFFN.”

    “In addition, the CRFFN should be represented at the Berthing Committee Meetings of the NPA.”

    Shittu said that the Minister had during a recent meeting with CRFFN officials and leaders of the leading freight forwarding associations, approved the funding of the associations from the transaction fees.

    He said: “You can only carry out transactions in the ports when you are licensed. Customs license us, shipping companies license us, terminal operators, NPA license us. Any corporate body purportedly in the freight forwarding industry that does not have either one or two of these licenses cannot be deemed to be an operator. So based on this, we work, gather money and give to CRFFN to share for those who have nothing at stake. It is the existence of our companies that will generate that money that is going out.”

    He, however, said the method of distributing the funds among associations registered by the CRFFN should be based on the level of payment made by their members.

    He said: “It is a welcome decision of the minister that associations must be funded from the transaction fees collection. The distributive method of the funding should be based pro rata on the level of payment by operators through the associations they belong. In other to protect the interest of ANLCA, the pro rata funding should form the foundation of our collaboration with CRFFN.”

  • Clearing agents, Customs bicker

    Clearing agents at the Lilypond Container Terminal in Lagos have accused the Customs Service of delaying goods clearance.

    The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Chuks Njemanze, alleged that some Customs officers deliberately delay cargoes at the terminal for about 24 hours. The new policy stipulates that goods should be cleared within 15 hours.

    “We do not know if there are periods allotted to jobs because some officers treat their jobs based on personal relationship and not on merit,’’ he said.

    He accused the Customs desk officers of inability to operate computers, thereby causing delays during processing of clearing documents.

    “When you came, you made a policy statement that you want to reduce the hours of cargo clearance from 24 to 15 hours. But it might interest you to know that the policy is not achievable. Cargoes are deliberately being delayed and one of the reasons I could adduce for the delay, is that most of the officers are not very conversant with the use of computer.

    “Because some of the officers were not promoted, they are happy, some of them don’t even pay attention to the work,” he claimed.

    He urged the Customs Area Controller, Ms. Talatu Isa, to resolve the problems to facilitate trade at the terminal.

    Reacting, Ms Isa said no Customs officer would delay the clearing of containers. She said a Debit Note could be raised at the gate if the owner of the consignment was suspected to have underpaid.

    She advised clearing agents to produce the right documents to get prompt service, urging them to visit the right Customs section for classification of their goods.

    She canvassed the cooperation of stakeholders at the terminal to make the 15-hour cargo clearance possible.

    Meanwhile, the terminal said it would start Sunday clearance of cargoes if importers submit their documents for clearing procedures.

    Its Managing Director, Tristram Denyer, said plans were underway to bring in more equipment to clear containers.

    He said with the innovation, the terminal can handle about 50,000 containers at a time, up from the present 20,000 containers.

    Its Commercial Service and Intermodal Manager, Kayode Daniel said the terminal has created a conducive atmosphere for stakeholders to clear their consignment. The terminal is also partnering with CGM CMA, PIL and Maersk Line firms to move containers to its off-dock-terminal at Ijora.

    He said the company was not relenting in its efforts to ensure that stakeholders got maximum service delivery and to meet international best practice.

    “We want to encourage importers to take advantage of clearing your containers from the terminal on Sundays, because we find out that traffic over the weekend is usually very light, but please ensure to carry out proper documentation on Saturday,“ he appealed.

    He assured that “provided you meet up with the adequate requirement, you container will definitely leave the terminal on Sunday”.

  • ‘Pay more attention to maritime’

    The Federal Government has been urged to give greater attention to to the sector.

    The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, said the government should ensure that more facilities to improve revenue generation were put in place at the ports.

    He said the problem of access roads to the Onne Port, which was generating billions of naira, should also be resolved.

    “There is the need to enhance the welfare of the goose that lays the golden eggs. There should be efforts to do intervention in the maritime sector like in the aviation,’’ he said.

    The ANLCA chief said the Cabotage Fund would have been used to improve inland water transportation if it had been disbursed last year. He said the fund would have enabled indigenous shipping firms to key into shipping business while waiting for products to be able to buy ocean going vessels.

    Shittu appealed to the government to carry stakeholders along while formulating policies that affect them.

    “Government’s policy on used vehicles will have adverse effects on the economy if not properly handled.

    “We need to let the government know how many of our members will lose their jobs and how smuggling will increase if nothing is done on the policy,’’ he said.

    Shittu said 90 per cent of the imports of the terminals built for Roll- on-Roll-Out (RORO) were for used vehicles.

    He said since the price of imported vehicles had risen by 100 per cent, people would have no choice than to smuggle in vehicles.

    This, he said, would affect revenue generation by the ports, especially the Tin Can Port, Lagos where touts and ‘port rats’ are disturbing people.

    Shittu said many unwanted persons enter the port daily despite the recent efforts by Customs.

    He said the call became necessary because the sector was seen as the second largest source of revenue for the country after the oil and gas industry.

    Besides, he said multinationals and others pay taxes or duties and import charges to the government.

    He said poor facilities, sea piracy and insecurity could scare away investors and hamper ports operations.

    He said importers and clearing agents were not left out of the menace as many of them have also suffered.

    He said huge traffic on the major roads to and within the ports and insecurity are some of the major problems that need to be addressed by the Federal Government intends to sustain investment growth in the sector.

    “The high level of insecurity in the nation’s seaports has become so widespread that every importer must have at one time or the other experienced losses arising from theft within or on the roads that lead to the ports. As a Nigerian, I think it is not too much to ask the government to secure our ports,” he added.

    In another development, maritime lawyers have urged the Federal Government to put policies in place to promote the industry.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the lawyers said the dearth of human and material capacities has become a source of worry in the sector.

    They called on relevant government agencies at the ports to complement stakeholders’ efforts in capacity-building, noting that businesses blink first in the event of any government’s policy breakdown.

    A maritime lawyer and consultant, Mr. Frank Simpson, said the dream of the youth, who seek employment, is only realised through job creation via the sector and human capacity building.

    He said the country could be the number one maritime nation in Africa, if human capacity building was taken seriously.

  • Customs, agents trade words over ports delays

    Customs, agents trade words over ports delays

    • World Bank seeks trade facilitation

     

    The Customs and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) are trading words over the delays in cargo clearance at the ports.

    ANLCA claims the Customs is responsible for the delay, an allegation which the para-military agency denies.

    The Customs alleges that the agents cause the delay through insincere declaration and documentation of import papers.

    At a meeting with a World Bank delegation in Lagos, ANLCA said physical examination of goods was responsible for the large number of people at the ports.

    The process, the agents noted, requires the presence of importers or their agents and others involved in it.

    ANLCA also accused the Federal Government of contributing to the delay because of its emphasis on revenue generation rather than trade facilitation by the Customs.

    The four-man World Bank team led by Antoine Coste, an international trade consultant, looked at the challenges hampering international trade, transport and logistics and how to facilitate trade at the ports and the international borders.

    ANLCA urged the World Bank to prevail on the government to strike a balance between trade facilitation and revenue generation by the Customs.

    Sources at the meeting said ANLCA’s President Alhaji Olayi-wola Shittu complained of interferences from some banned government agencies at the ports, which, he said, were hampering cargo delivery.

    Shittu claimed that the profiling of importers by the Customs was halted because majority of the importers were not honesty.

    Profiling, a source said, would have facilitated trade, but it is not so because many importers make wrong declarations.

    On the crowd at the ports, the source said, Shittu told the team that over 60 per cent of those coming to the ports were not supposed to be there.

    “Shittu informed the World Bank team that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) registered five associations to carry on the business of moving cargoes across international borders. They are ANLCA, National Council of Managing Directors Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders, Nigeria (AREFFN) and National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC). All these associations have their areas of specialisation. He said the ‘Honey Pot’ is the Licensed Customs Brokers, because there are no defined roles for others,” the source said.

    Shittu, who confirmed the World Bank’s visit, said it was to facilitate bilateral trade.

    Customs spokesman Wale Adeniyi said the team met with Customs to assess what the Service is doing with the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) and consolidate on its gains.

    In Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Customs Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit Zone C Mr David Dimka said honest declaration of goods enhanced speedy clearance and effective Customs services.

    “We have always said that whenever you make an honest declaration, Customs will release your goods within the stipulated time.

    “When you fail to document properly, Customs will be forced to delay your goods in order to achieve the required standards.

    “The Customs is concerned with revenue generation for the country and security of what comes in and goes out of the country,” Dimka said.

    He said importers should be blamed whenever goods were delayed at the ports because of improper documentation.

    Dimka urged port users to play by the rules to avoid delays.

  • ANLCA exco members owing N50m dues

    ANLCA exco members owing N50m dues

    Some senior officials of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) are allegedly owing over N50million unremitted dues.

    Sources close to the association alleged that many of its officials defaulted in two statutory payments into its coffers.

    The source said the deadline earlier given to them has been extended to today to enable some of the officials pay up.

    A senior official of the group, who craved anonymity, said the decision to come hard on defaulters was reached at the association’s National Executive Committee (NECOM) meeting in Lagos last week.

    The payments were for the association’s permanent national secretariat and its insurance policy amounting to about N50million.

    Its National President, Alhaji Olayiwola Shittu, it was gathered, has approved the suspension of anybody who fails to pay up the debt.

    Sources close to Shittu also said, he had directed the executives of the association’s chapters to hold regular meetings with members at the chapter levels to sensitise them on the recently-introduced Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR).

    The source said he directed the agents to come forward with operational challenges and security agents who may be trying to truncate the initiative.

    Shittu told The Nation that PAAR has given the opportunity for customs brokers to be consulted, and in fact engaged by importers to arrange their imports documentarily before such imports are activated.

    He also explained that in spite of the hitches being experienced in its implementation, the PAAR is still the best option to facilitate trade at the ports.

    He, however, said the only likely problem of PAAR is how to establish actual values of goods, which he added that the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) has set up the necessary machinery to resolve.