The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has declared as an act of illegality the practice of issuing licenses to the customs agents by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) without recourse to the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN).
It also advise that an executive bill be initiated from the Ministry of Transport and in collaboration with Ministry of Finance to expunge Section 156 of the Customs And Excise Management Act (CEMA) through a subsidiary legislation at the National Assembly, so that the conflict between CEMA and CRFFN Act be put to rest permanently.
These suggestions were contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adesohun by the Secretary General of NAGAFF, Mr. Arthur Igwilo and copied to President Muhammadu Buhari and nine others with the title,” Re: Closure of Direct Traders Input Cafes and Issuance of Passwords to the corporate Bodies Licensed by Customs: Matters Arising”.
NAGAFF in the letter was apparently reacting to a statement credited to the Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs in-charge of Zone A, ACG Charles Edike to the effect that by the end of April, 2016, all the Direct Traders Input (DTI) Cafes which served as cafes for the capturing of relevant documents for import clearance from all the entry points would be shut down and in their places PIN numbers would be issued as passwords to only licensed customs agents to perform clearance of goods from the Customs control.
The association however recalled that Customs licenses whose Registration Code (RC) numbers used to be used for capturing of relevant documents for import clearance was no longer being in use rather the Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) were being used in ASYCUDA declarations.
It added that the move by the Customs Service if allowed to sell through possed a grave danger for the freight forwarders who would be made to be thrown into the already over saturated job market.
“What this means in effect is that as freight forwarders they would no longer be able to carry out their functions in the ports as it relates to Customs formalities. We will want to inform you that this announcement by the Customs authorities is already creating restiveness in the port as the young freight forwarders are apprehensive of the loss of their means of livelihood. We do hope that it does not result to violence and withdrawal of service by the greater numbers who are well over Ten Thousand Practitioners rather than a less than 1000 operational licenses of the Customs. There is also the danger of a massive distress in the life of port operations in view of the fact that Nigeria Customs Service is a very strategic agency of the Government in our entry points. The country is presently grappling with a lot of challenges in the maritime sector and we feel that to add this not well thought out policy might be a disaster in the making” the letter read in part.
While questioning why Customs should license only corporate bodies as against individuals and firms as provided for in the CEMA, NAGAFF suggested that instead of giving passwords to only those with customs license, the Registered Freight Forwarders’ Numbers (RFF) as issued by CRFFN should be used for that purpose.
It continued,” In the opinion of NAGAFF, it shall be our strong advise that an executive bill be initiated from the Ministry of Transport and in collaboration with Ministry of Finance to expunge Section 156 through a subsidiary legislation at the National Assembly, so that this matter can be put to rest. We cannot have two separate Government agencies regulating the industry stakeholders on the same subject i.e. freight forwarding.
“If we are to go by using the mischief Rule of interpretation of Statutes, we would be right to posit that, taken in its totality, the coming into effect of the CRFFN Acts was to cure the mischief inherent in the CEMA especially with regards to its regulatory functions of the Licensed Customs Agents. In the collective wisdom of the law makers they discovered that in order to professionalize the freight forwarding practice, it is only individuals who can acquire skills and knowledge that is required to be professional freight forwarders and not corporate bodies who do not have the capacities and capability to acquire the professional skills and knowledge needed which is not obtainable presently by the relevant provisions of CEMA.
“We urge you to consult with the Hon. Minister of Transportation everything concerning freight forwarding as a profession and License Customs Agency as a vocation. The point herein contained is that it is an illegality for Customs to license any corporate body without a person duly accredited
and certified by CRFFN as the regulatory agency of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria. The Hon. Minister should be aware that Licensed Customs Agents are subsumed as secondary freight forwarders in the transportation chain, i.e. the carriage of goods and services across the international boundaries of a state to arrive at the final destination. The point herein made is that any license issued by the Customs without a clearance from CRFFN is an illegality.
“The urgency for the Hon. Minister of Transportation and Finance Minister to meet in this regard with a view to harmonizing the two legislative instruments cannot be over emphasized because if nothing urgent is done and the Nigeria Customs Service goes ahead to implement the password orders for Licensed Customs Agents, the essence or otherwise of CRFFN have become invalid. We again repeat our advice that the permanent solution to this conflict of interest is to expunge Section 156 of CEMA through legislation.
“In the interim the position of Hon. Minister of Transport should be upheld by the Finance Minister to ensure that Licensed Customs Agents subject themselves to the control and regulation of freight
forwarders council. The registered numbers of the individual freight forwarders should be the bases of issuance of password other than corporate body licensed by the Customs. It is on record that Nigeria
Customs Service is primarily using TIN numbers for declarants and not necessarily RC numbers of corporate companies. And for the records and in facts, the Customs law does not deal nor transact business with Freight/Licensed Customs Agents Associations”, NAGAFF said.
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