The Nation Newspaper

Tag: cargo clearance

  • IGP orders speedy cargo clearance at ports

    The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr  Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the streamlining of Nigerian police operations at all the ports for speedy cargo clearance and improved efficiency.

    The order followed Adamu’s meeting with the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Malam Hassan Bello at the Police Headquarters in Abuja.

    “Towards this end, directives aimed at streamlining police operations in and around Ports Terminals have been given to the Maritime Police Command and other formations.

    “The directives reinforce the mandate of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (Maritime) and the commissioners of police in-charge of the responsibility for police operations at all ports across the country.

    “No other Police Formations, Commands, Units or Teams by any designation are authorized to undertake any operation or investigation in and around any Nigerian Ports Terminals.

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    “Any operations must be with the knowledge, written authorization and active involvement of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (Maritime) or the commissioners of Police in-charge of the Western and Eastern Ports Authority as the case may be,” he said.

    The acting I-G also pointed out that the stoppage of containers to clearing agents by different units in the police has also been harmonized.

    He stated that such orders would henceforth be routed through the office of the AIG (Maritime) to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council for execution.

    “The implication of this order is that the Maritime Police Command is to work in conjunction with the Shippers’ Council to ensure the actualisation of the IGP’s order.” (NAN)

  • ANLCA chief seeks quick cargo clearance

    The Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Onne Chapter, Chief Kingsley Offor, has solicited for support of members and other stakeholders for effective service delivery and smooth cargo clearance at ports.

    Speaking with The Nation of his re-election bid, he said ANLCA’s vision was to   enhance members’ welfare.

    Offor gave kudos to the Board of Trustees and the leadership of the association for their commitment to promoting truth and enhancing unity and justice among members.

    “I call on ANLCA faithful to remain focused and steadfast to the association’s tenets to ensure that adequate synergies and partnerships with stakeholders at the port aimed at enthroning a conducive working environment and seamless cargo clearance were upheld.

    ANLCA Onne chapter, findings revealed, has achieved tremendous impacts in promoting members’ welfare, such as provision of 36-seater coaster bus, medical care for all members and on the job training of members in line with global challenges.

    Ofor urged other members to come on board to serve ANLCA “because it’s a self-serving mission to protect the interest of all members and the growth of the association”.

    ANLCA, he said, will continue to develop and sustain a conducive  working relationship with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Standards Organisation of Nigeria  (SON), NAFDAC and other stakeholders.

    “If elected, I will retain my open and all-inclusive policy for all members irrespective of their status because ANLCA is one united and individual body,’’ he said.

    While assuring that ANLCA members would continue to work in line with global best practices, Offor urged government agencies at the port to re-strategise and fast-track compliance on cargo clearance to facilitate trade, enforce the Easy of Doing Business policy and enhance revenue generation to the Federal Government.

     

  • NCS: New platform for 48-hour cargo clearance coming

    NCS: New platform for 48-hour cargo clearance coming

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tin Can Island Command, is set to introduce a new electronic information system, to ensure that cargoes are cleared from the port within 48 hours.

    According to the command, Time Release Studies (TRS) will comprise data and electronic information that will enable stakeholders track the movement of their Single Goods Declaration (SGD) forms from the date of submission to when the cargo  exited the Customs system.

    The Controller, its  Public Relations Officer, Mr. Uche Ejesieme, said, ordered the issuance of TRS to provide information about daily movement of SGD forms to ensure that there were no bottlenecks and bureaucracies in the clearance system.

    He described it as a trade facilitation tool, which will further exonerate the Customs from any delay experienced by importers and clearing agents taking delivery.

    He said the TRS was introduced by the new Customs Area Controller, Comptroller, Mr. Musa Baba, adding that the command has been given a target of N354 billion for the year.  Last year’s target was N310 billion.

    The image maker said the command was expected to collect N29.5billion monthly instead of N25.8 billion it collected last year. “The annual target for 2018 at Tin Can Island is N354.6 billion, monthly is N29.5 billion. This is higher than the target of 2017, which stood at N310 billion with a monthly collection of N25.8 billion.

    “Don’t forget that the controller just assumed office few days ago, but as soon as he came onboard, he called for an emergency meeting of all sectional heads, officers in charge of terminals, releasing officers, CIU, and valuation, these are very key officers.

    “He already has a template for the realisation of the figure. He mentioned it to everybody, and he is also planning to ensure that he shares the target to some of these terminals and to ensure that terminals on daily basis must submit their collections and interventions,’’ Ejesieme said.

    He continued: “There are people already on the system working hard to monitor all transactions, when they see infractions they flag it. There will be close monitoring of all transactions.

    “The controller has also directed that there should be time release studies. This will provide information about daily movement of single goods declaration forms to ensure that there are no hiccups, bottlenecks and bureaucracies.

    ‘’He has also told us that he wants practical facilitation of legitimate trade. It is not enough for you to say you are facilitating trade, but the public must see you facilitating trade,’’ Ejesieme said.

    He urged all releasing officers to  go for value check before releasing any consignment. There would be sanctions this time around if any infraction is noticed,” the image maker added.

     

  • How to improve cargo clearance

    How to improve cargo clearance

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is to partner the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to boost exportation.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mr Hassan Bello, told The Nation that the NEPC is addressing some of the issues affecting exportation. He said the discussions have been yielding fruitful results.

    The NSC boss also commended terminal operators for boosting service delivery at the nation’s seaports, adding that to encourage exportation as a source of diversification of the economy, the issue of finance or access to credit by exporters has been discussed.

    “We must have adequate infrastructure to move the exportable commodities to the ports. We must have the linkages, weighbridges and consolidation centres so that the products are processed and transported effortlessly to the seaports,” he said.

    He urged all government agencies operating at the ports to improve on their processes for efficient cargo clearance. “What the NSC is saying is that our ports must be efficient. Therefore, all agencies operating in the ports including the Nigeria Customs Service, Plant Quarantine and others must up their game.

    “Electronic interface should be encouraged in our ports, while appropriate technology must be embraced by all the agencies and institutions operating in the ports. If all these are put in place, there will be transparency, efficiency and competiveness,” Bello said.

  • Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    Shippers Council insists on 48-hour cargo clearance

    To ensure that the ports are not congested, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is insisting on 48-hour clearance of goods.

    At a meeting with terminal operators, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers and other stakeholders, NSC Executive Secretary Hassan Bello argued that meeting the cargo clearance deadline was the only way to free the ports.

    Bello is also seeking an amendment of the NSC Act to strengthen its control of traffic, rates and related economic charges at the ports.

    “The Act establishing the NSC needs to be amended by the National Assembly to enable “NSC enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of ports services as it is required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act”, Bello said when contacted.

    According to him, the councils’ aim is to provide platforms for cargo clearance to make the ports more efficient.

    He urged stakeholders to resolve the challenges of quick cargo clearance, saying: “The idea is that the NSC is the referee in this friendly contest, and the more we interact with the service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get.”

    The council, he said, is focusing on trade facilitation and quick cargo clearance to boost government revenue.

    Bello said: “We need automation in our ports instead of doing things manually. We need to streamline these processes and develop standard operating procedures, and check the presence of government agencies at the ports on what they are doing and the Customs to also up their game in automation.

    “They have led the way, but we need other stakeholders to come and buy in. So, we are doing a lot of consultations while we supervise and moderate. Customs has been leading in so many areas of what our ultimate aim is, which is automation, providing platforms for cargo clearance so that our ports will become efficient.

    “The trade facilitation issue they have pioneered is something very commendable and it is a starting point.”

    He suggested the streamlining of cargo clearance procedures to ensure the ports are more competitive with others in West and Central.

    “Nigerians ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures – the way we do business so that we attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports.”

    “We need to develop standard operating procedures. We need quality services to ensure that there is a balance in relationship between service providers and users in the industry,” he said.

  • NPA, NSC to begin 48-hour cargo clearance next year

    NPA, NSC to begin 48-hour cargo clearance next year

    To promote trade facilitation, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) may introduce the much-awaited 48-hour cargo clearance next year, it has been learnt.

    NPA Managing Director Mallam Habib Abdullahi and his NSC counterpart Mr Hassan Bello took this decision, following the directive of Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, who visited NPA Lagos office last week.

    “With the new directive from this government, NPA and the NSC officials are strategising on how to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance early next year,” the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) a senior official, who did not want his named mentioned, said.

    The official identified sharp practices and charges for services not rendered as factors militating against the 48-hour clearance and urged the Ministers of Transport and Finance to address the problem.

    “We are aware that NPA and NSC are not happy over the past failure of 48-hour cargo clearance policy. Apart for the fact that the delays experienced in cargo clearance disrupted the production schedules of manufacturers as raw materials are not delivered in good time to their factories, they affected their revenue and were responsible for high level of corruption at the port as importers struggled to clear their cargoes under harsh conditions. This again exacerbate inflation as goods were not quickly cleared from the port to meet relevant needs in the economy.

    “In the past, the Federal Government had made several failed attempts to achieve 48-hour cargo clearance at the ports. Former President Goodluck Jonathan administration had at a time constituted a presidential committee under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Finance, with some co-opted members from the Ministry of Transport, to address the perennial problem of long cargo dwell time at the ports.

    “But what could rightly be termed as the achievement of the government intervention, unfortunately, was that it merely succeeded in getting a backlog of cargoes cleared to ease port congestion. After that, it became business as usual,” the official added.

    Meanwhile, over 6,000 shippers, it was gathered, have keyed into the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) introduced by NSC to secure the ports and environ. ICTN, it was learnt, would also assist the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in risk profiling, assessment and valuation to move cargoes out of the ports within 48 hours.

    Investigation has shown that as from January 1, next year, any vessel that fails to comply with the ICTN would be penalised.

    Contacted, Bello spoke of the need to streamline cargo clearance procedures and ensure that the ports compete with others in West and Central Africa.

    “Nigerian ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures–the way we do business – so that we can attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports,” he said.

     

  • ‘Implement 24-hour cargo clearance policy’

    A Council member of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Adams Idifueko has called for the implementation of the promised policy of 24-hour cargo clearance by the Federal Government.

    He said in Lagos that the country should address the reality as the issue of cargo congestion has remained unabated at our ports, compounded with multiple inspection and government’s agencies.

    He said the nation is almost missing the opportunity of being the sub-regional hub as clearing goods in Togo and Republic of Benin is 40 per cent cheaper.

    Idifueko said with Nigeria’s population estimated at over 170 million, importers should find the country’s ports attractive enough to do business.

    He said in Singapore, a 200,000 capacity ship takes just about two hours to clear while in Nigeria a 2,000 capacity ship takes 24 hours, adding that with that with this scenario, the nation can never be a preferred hub for cargo destination.