After months of disagreement between the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) over the method of sharing the proceeds from the Practitioners’ Operating Fee (POF), the Council has perfected plans to commence the collection of the fee on Monday 24th of October 2016, Primetime Reporters can authoritatively report.
At a meeting held at Abuja amongst the leadership of the five freight forwarding associations, some selected stakeholders and the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi last week Tuesday, it was agreed that the collection will take off immediately and that all concerned should comply forthwith.
Speaking to our correspondent on the outcome of the meeting, the President of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN), Dr. Frank Ukor disclosed that a sharing formular for the fee to be collected was also agreed upon at the meeting.
According to Ukor,”On the issue of the POF, you recall that the committee set up by the Honourable Minister about four months ago has submitted its report bur what the committee did was that it changed what the former Minister has granted. The former Minister has said that 60% will go to the government, 30% will go to the associations while 10% will go to the declarants and that was what was gazetted.
“But the committee changed it and said that 65% will now go to government and 35% will go to the declarants. But they said that when the declarants collect their own percentages, they will now go to their associations and pay them whatever they agreed”.
He pointed out that the issue of who a declarant is came up at the meeting, some argued that a declarant is the customs licensed company whose license was used to execute the job while some argued that a declarant should be considered as the individual who sourced for the job since a company on its own cannot source for job as it cannot act as a person.
“At a point, it became a ding dong affair that we have to cast vote and four people voted in favour of a licensed company as the declarant while one person voted in favour of the individual who sourced for the job as the declarant. So, it was agreed that the declarant is the licensed company. What that means is that it is the person that has the licensed company used in executing the transaction that will collect the money.
“But when we left the office, we were still wondering, what of the associations? Nothing was given to the associations, so, how will the associations survive?”, he said.
Confirming Ukor’s position, the Registrar of CRFFN, Sir Mike Jukwe said that a decision was reached at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Minister’s office that the collection be commenced immediately.
Jukwe pointed out that the Ministry of Transportation was going to put up a public notice for the public to be aware of the new development as well as to the five freight forwarding associations to formally notify them of the development.
He said,” Though the directive is to start on Monday the 24th of October but they will hear directly from the Ministry. This is the position actually.
“The Minister has given a directive, the directive will be communicated to all those concerned by some of stakeholders were actually at the meeting when the decision was taken because a stakeholers’ meeting was held, the decision reached and the Minister has approved and given the directive to start immediately on the 24th of October being Monday.
“So, what they are waiting for is for the directive to be communicated to them officially as well as with a public notice”.
On his part, the National President of ANLCA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu told our correspondent that he was not aware that the CRFFN will commence collection of POF on Monday as stated by the Registrar.
When further questions were asked him by our correspondent, Shittu referred him to Mr. Pius Ujubuonu who represented ANLCA at the meeting at Abuja.
Speaking to Primetime Reporters, Mr. Pius Ujubuonu confirmed that it was agreed at Abuja that the collection be made but quickly added that he pleaded on behalf of his association that ample time be given for members to be adequately sensitized and informed about the development which was agreed upon at the meeting.
“So, if Jukwe is looking at Monday the 24th of October, I doubt if that approval was expressly given and besides, some of the point that were agreed upon, were agreed that letters be sent out to each association so that we will be sure that the things are the agreement reaches and the roles we agreed to abide by.
“So, the issue of 24th October is strange to me because I was pleading for next year, that was my position so that adequate sensitization and relationship be made before the commencement”, he said.
When asked if the sharing formular as mentioned by Ukor was correct, he said,”Of course, that has always been the position of ANLCA that if the government wants to collect it, let it go to TSA (Treasury Single Account) but if it must share the money with anybody at all, that the declarant should be the beneficiary of the 35% and not the associations”.
When asked if ANLCA will support this proposal as opposed to the earlier sharing formular put forward by the CRFFN, Ujubuonu stated,”ANLCA has no interest anymore since it is no longer going to do with associations. It is left for the declarants to either accept or say they don’t have anything to do with it otherwise if ANLCA should look at it on their own, it will presuppose that though it might be a subjudice because a Lot of these issues are being adjudicated by the court.
“So, ANLCA will not particularly as a matter of factly, come out to say this is our position about the POF vis-a-vis the CRFFN saying that membership being sandwiched between various regulatory agencies because a lot of things are still hanging. ANLCA particularly now does not out rightly plead a position”.
On the election of the governing council members, he posited that he stood up in the course of the meeting to inform the Minister that part of the reasons ANLCA was opposed to the collection of the POF was as a result of the absence of a properly constituted council adding that it was assumed that there was no CRFFN in place since a number of people currently occupying that place were civil servants who cannot be entrusted with what was supposed to be entrusted with the trustees.
It will be recall that for a period spanning up to one year now, several attempts were made by the CRFFN to collect the POF hit the rock as members of ANLCA opposed the sharing formular adopted by the council saying that the money instead of going to the associations should go to the declarants even as it cited absence of a properly constituted council as another reason it was opposed to the collection, an action that saw ANLCA approaching a Federal High Court in Lagos to stop the CRFFN from collecting such fee from its members pending the determination of the issues on notice.
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