Shippers seek further reduction of agencies at ports

THE Secretary-General ofShippers Association in Lagos State, Jonathan Nicol, has advised the Federal Government to further reduce the number of agencies at seaports to achieve 48-hour cargo clearance.Nicol made the call at a forum of the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, yesterday.He said that the presence of other agencies apart from Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at cargo examination points was prolonging the stay of cargoes at the ports.He said that the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Immigration Service, Port Health and National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had no business at cargo examination points, unless they were invited by the customs.The shipper said the Police should only go round the port for security purposes and not at the examination points.Nicol said that the Customs should be left alone to examine cargoes to facilitate smooth clearance.'If they discover drugs for instance, customs will call on NDLEA to come in,' Nicol said.The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in October, announced the reduction of the number of agencies at the ports from 14 to five.Nicol stressed that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should also not be seen at the ports.'SON should rather go and inspect local industries to determine their standards and not to be found in the ports, unless its officials are invited,' he said.According to him, goods imported have the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) certificates already issued.Nicol said it was not encouraging that SON would still declare imported goods as sub-standard when those products were already in the country.He said it was also time-consuming for importers to go to SON office at Lekki to stamp certificates at N1,500.Nicol said that there was already the mandatory fees of N3,500 and N7,000 on 20 ft and 40 ft containers, respectively, which he described as unnecessary.The shipper also called on the Federal Government to dismantle checkpoints along the Seme-Badagry Expressway, which he also described as 'illegal'.According to him, from Mile 2 to Seme border, you can count over 100 Police and customs checkpoints.'This is an international route and their presence there is a violation of the free movement of citizens and goods under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Programme,' he said.
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