Representatives of CRFFN accredited freight forwarding associations rose from a crucial meeting with a call on the Nigeria Customs Service to always carry stakeholders along before implementing policies.
The representatives at the meeting at the Freight Forwarders Village in Lagos deliberated on the new foreign exchange policy and the shutdown of Direct Trade Input (DTI) by the Customs, opined that the two policies if not retracted will do incalcable damage to the economy of Nigeria.
The well attended meeting of the top echelon of the registered associations frowned at what they termed “impunity of Customs”, and advised the government’s revenue making agency to be more conscious of its major responsibility which is trade facilitation in whatever it does.
They urged all government agencies operating at the ports and all border stations to work in harmony and synergy accusing Customs of having disregard for the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) especially with the new shut down of DTIs.
The stakeholders reminded the Customs that something seemed to be wrong with the policy whereby passwords would be issued to licensed Customs Agents, as this was a clear violation of the CRFFN Act, which says licenses can only be premised on the freight forwarders register, which was domiciled with the CRFFN.
According to the freight forwarders, it is disheartening that while other countries were moving to the highest level of logistics process Nigeria was introducing policies that would stunt the growth of the sector.
They therefore called on Customs to take into cognizance the impact of their policies on the industry and the economy in general.
Earlier, founder of NAGAFF, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, setting the ball rolling, said the two policies recently introduced by the Customs should be viewed from the legal perceptive.
Dr. Aniebonam reminded the representatives at the meeting that Nigeria, being a democratic country, practitioners should begin to look at the activities of governments and its agencies from a legal perceptive and rule of law.
He therefore urged government agencies carrying out functions for the government to be conscious of this special privilege conferred on them, and that they were exercising the delegated powers of Mr. President as conferred on him by Section 5(1a) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“5. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive powers of the Federation: (a) shall be vested in the President and may subject as aforesaid and to the provisions of any law made by the National Assembly, be exercised by him either directly or through the Vice-President and Ministers of the government of the Federation or officers in the public service of the Federation.
“There is therefore the need to exercise restraint in the manner the executive powers of Mr. President is being exercised by most of the government agencies in Nigeria. We want to appreciate the role Nigeria Shippers Council under the leadership of Barr. Hassan Bello has been playing in resolving the avoidable differences between government agencies and the people on trade matters”, he said.
The meeting was attended by the Chairmen of the Board of Trustees, Presidents and Secretaries of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders (AREFF) and Nigeria Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC).
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