The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Freight

  • Global demand for air freight may pick up – IATA

    Global demand for air freight may pick up – IATA

    The decline in global demand for air freight may be bottoming out, with increased cargo volumes in November, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday.

    This is contained in a statement made available by the Director-General of IATA, Mr. Tony Tyler.

    According to IATA, air freight volumes were down 1.2 per cent in November compared with a year earlier.

    “Total cargo volumes were up when compared with October 2015.

    “It appears that parts of Asia-Pacific are growing again and globally, export orders are looking better,’’ IATA said.

  • Freight forwarders warn against impending collapse of import business

    The Chairman, National Association of Government Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Murtala Muhammed Airport Ikeja, Lagos, Segun Musa, has accused the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) of mismanaging both land, air and sea ports across the country  with prohibitive tariff on imports that could lead to the collapse of many  businesses.

    Musa, while speaking to a group of journalists, said a review of the import  tariff had become imperative to sustain many indigenous businesses in cargo clearance, freight forwarding and the supply chain.

    He described  the prohibitive import tariff as being an unfavourable policy affecting players in the freight forwarding  and supply chain .

    He said the manner Nigerian Customs officials go about implementing the new import tariff, has resulted in a sour relationship between importers and Customs  officers.

    Musa said by the time importers relocate to other West African countries to pay  import duties, there would be  significant loss of revenue to the government and her agencies, adding that such a move will make both land, sea and airports redundant for players in the freight forwarding chain .

    He said: “Customs officers mismanaged the ports, they have not brought to the table any meaningful policy that will actually drive the industry. This is because  they are saddled with the responsibility of checking revenue being collected by the freight forwarders. With the way they go about the business , they are actually mismanaging the ports.

    “The revenue leakage is more than the revenue collected for the government of Nigeria. The tariff on imports is so high and that has taken a lot of businesses out of Nigeria.

    “We have criticised the Pre- Inspection  Arrival Report that government should  not saddle the customs with the issuance of that certificate.   But, the customs came with all kinds of explanations that there won’t be any query again when they start issuing the certificate.”

    He called on the Federal Government to engage private sector in policy formulations in order to get things right.

    He clarified that importation is not responsible for the demise of major industries in the country, saying bad roads, insecurity and poor power generation are reasons why many industries have collapsed .

    Musa said freight forwarders  will soon go into a regime of external tariff where every importer is at liberty to import goods and pay tariff anywhere in the world and go to the border to clear their goods without paying to customs.

    “By the time importers start going to Ghana, Togo, Abidjan and Cotonou to pay duties, there will be loss of revenue here and our terminals will be turned into football fields and there will be no activities going on in the shed.

    “So, you can imagine how the Labour market will look like when about three million people will be thrown out of the market,” he warned.

    He noted that Nigeria has the highest number of contraband goods all over the world, adding that it is not in the interest of the nation.

  • Freight forwarders petition Jonathan over containers’delay

    The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over the inability of the service providers to scan more than 200 containers out of the 700 expected daily at the Lagos ports.

    The group claimed that daily, 500 containers are left unscanned, a situation they claimed, has led to congestion at the Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) and others.

    The freight forwarders requested House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) to intervene in the matter, saying that over 2,500 containers are left unattended every week, a situation that has compounded the congestion at the ports.

    In an August 29 letter obtained by The Nation, the association’s Secretary-General, Mr Increase Uche, said: “Out of the 2,000 containers scanned, about 750 are entered as “suspect”, leading to physical examination by Customs officers at ports.

    “Most of the containers were suspected because the parking arrangement of the laden containers were unprofessionally done leading to a shift in position of goods inside the containers,” the body said.

    NAGAFF also alleged that the hydro scanners provided by the service providers were not computarised, saying the situation has created an avoidable congestion with its negative consequences on the economy.

    “It is our considered advice and opinion that you consult with the Comptroller-General of Customs to address the situation. There is no doubt that the service providers may not have taken into consideration the inward cargo throughput of the country before deploying these analog scanners,” NAGAFF, said.

     

  • Freight forwarders petition Jonathan over Customs Act

    The National Association of Government approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President David Mark over attempts to frustrate the amendment of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) 1958.

    The association claims that there are “powerful forces”within the government bent on stopping the National Assembly from amending the law.

    The freight forwarders also requested House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal and National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki to intervene in the matter.

    In a January 11 letter exclusively obtained by The Nation, the association’s head of Legal Department, Mr Larry Okonkwo, said the CEMA Act could no longer address the challenges facing the industry.

    He wondered why some government officials are collaborating with unpatriotic elements to frustrate the amendment of the Act.

    NAGAFF said the amendment would not threaten the President’s power to appoint the Custom’s Comptroller-General. It urged the President to call to order government officials alleged to be serving the interests of their masters.

    “This amendment does not threaten the power of the President to appoint the Comptroller-General of Customs. It is the Constitution that empowers the President to also appoint the Inspector-General of Police, Directors-General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and ministers.

    “This is a constitutional responsibility of the President as enunciated in Section 5 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution.”

    NAGAFF said the power to appoint the Customs Comptroller-General and the Finance Minister responsible for the administration of the service rests with the President.

    The group said it was wrong for anyone or group to insinuate that the President’s powers would be eroded by some amendments as envisaged by the CEMA Bill before the National Assembly.

    NAGAFF said the bill only granted partial autonomy to Customs “which we think is good for a modern Customs to emerge”. It urged the President to support the passage of the bill.

    “The synopsis of the CEMA Bill seeks to give partial autonomy to the Nigeria Customs Service. This is, to us, a welcome development because it is in line with modern day public management trends. This will encourage innovation and shorten bureaucratic red tape.

    “The unnecessary interference with the operations of the service will create a counter-productive atmosphere that would hamper the smooth and efficient running of the service,” the group said.