The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Olayiwola Shittu

  • Customs’ C-G wants clearing agents to reduce delay in cargo clearance

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has advised clearing agents to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to fight corruption and reduce delay-time  in cargo clearance at the ports to facilitate trade.

    The Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali, gave the advice when he visited the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) headquarters in Lagos.

    Ali said that if the agents had a fruitful synergy with the NCS, it would put an end to all the challenges militating against their operations at the ports.

    He assured the clearing agents that the service would organise a stakeholders’ meeting that would be attended by selected leaders of the associations to proffer solutions to problems affecting seamless cargo clearance at the ports.

    “I am appealing to the clearing agents to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his agenda to stop corruption and I hope our meeting would bring positive results to our operations.

    “I am also appealing to both  the NCS officers and the clearing agents to always search their consciences  and ensure they do the right things at all times,” Ali said.

    He said that the service would look into the complaints of multiple check points.

    Ali said that apart from delaying cargo movement, the check points had assisted the service to intercept 661 riffles and other seizures due to lack of proper examination at the ports.

    According to him, if Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) is well documented, the system will not reject it.

    He urged clearing agents to engage in honest declaration to avoid their documents being queried.

    The C-G acknowledged the need for continuous enlightenment on Customs’ cargo processing to assist both operators in removing all the teething problems militating against 48-hour cargo clearance at the ports.

    The National President of ANLCA, Mr. Olayiwola Shittu, urged the management of NCS to assist the agents in solving challenges affecting cargo clearance at the ports.

    Shittu said that the operations of clearing agents and the NCS were related, saying that trading zone operation, which is where they process documents for PAAR,  was affecting cargo clearance.

    Shittu pleaded with NCS to stop duplication of PAAR documentation, saying which led to additional payments in clearing goods at the ports.

    He advised the NCS boss to also stop multiple alerts by some officers at the examination units as well as locking of Customs pin numbers.

    Shittu said that the NCS should sanction dishonest shippers found to be engaging in false declaration and not agents who assisted in clearing cargoes.

    He suggested that the service should look forward to a new system of cargo clearance to stop extortions by both parties.

    Shittu said that “ANLCA, Nigeria is the regional headquarters of International Customs Brokers and it keeps abreast of information on cargo clearance around the world.

    “I will like the NCS management and some members of our association to visit Ghana to observe how their Customs’ operate while clearing vehicles at the ports.

    “Ghana’s revenue on vehicles received a 60 per cent boost in a year of operating seamless method of clearing vehicles from their ports,” he said.

    Shittu, however, said the association would support the NCS in fighting against corruption and facilitate trade at the nation’s ports. 

     

  • 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.”

  • 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.

  • ‘Explore opportunities in free trade zones’

    ‘Explore opportunities in free trade zones’

    The President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Prince Olayiwola Shittu has called on stakeholders in the maritime sector to utilise investment opportunities at the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) across the country.

    The ANLCA chief made the call while speaking with The Nation, last week.

    Shittu stressed that the free trade zones are suitable for port development, ship building and repairs, as well as offshore logistcs and support activities.

    Speaking on the opportunities of the zone, Shittu said that the population of Nigeria is about 150 million and that of the surrounding West African economic community is about 500 million.

    But the local industry, he said, is fragile and more than 90 per cent of the products rely on import, so the market potential is considerable; the second, he said, is the favourable export advantages.

    According to him, Nigeria is a signatory state of the Lome Convention. So, the products made in Nigeria are entitled to exporting to Europe and the United States, enjoying no quota restrictions and low tariff.

    He also urged the Federal Government to institute policies such as tax holidays and duty exemptions for materials used in the ship making/repair industry.

    Shittu said Nigeria would benefit immensely from such policies due to the large number of ships that berth at its seaports yearly.

    He said the nation’s maritime sector provides enormous wealth and employment opportunities.

    “Nigeria is a coastal state. The advantages of her coastline and integrated road network from the southern belt connecting the seaports and oil terminals of Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Bonny and Brass to the northern frontiers of the country presents a solution to the demands of cargo traffic and logistics needs of inland countries which share land mass with Nigeria and her coastal neighbouring states,” he said.

    According to him, Nigeria’s 900 nautical miles coastline provides enormous opportunities for its citizens.