The Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFF) has written to the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi stating that the money accruing from the collection of the Practitioners’ Operating Fee (POF) should not be used to conduct the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Governing Board election as earlier proposed.
The letter which was jointly signed by Dr. Frank Ukor and Ichie Frank Obiekezie, National President and National Secretary respectively noted that their position was informed by the fact that CRFFN had collected a lot of money from the annual subscriptions even when it had not rendered any service to the industry.
The association insisted that money realized from the subscriptions should be the source of funds for the election.
AREFF said that it agreed with the timetable for the election into the Governing Board of the Council but suggested that every association should be represented in the council so as to avoid a repeat of what happened in the first council where it claimed only one association dominated the Board and tended to regulate the Council instead of the Council regulating it.
“The scenario in that first council is what is still playing out where the association dictates to the council. Let all the associations be represented so that CRFFN will have a lease of life”, it said.
On the issue of the POF collection, the association recalled that the issue had been on since 2011 after a town hall meeting of all segments of the freight forwarding practitioners at the Villa Park Hotel, Lagos Under JACOFF where decision to commence collection of the fee was taken regretting that the then Governing Council of CRFFN scuttled the arrangement by freight forwarders to collect the money to assist their associations in meeting their administrative costs.
“The Board of the council hijacked the move for the collection and got the Minister then to approve that she collects the fee. Most members of the Board agreed to the collection, problem of sharing formular eventually prevented the commencement of the collection. To make matters worse, the customs came up with the idea that it will add to the cost of doing business in Nigeria and got an insider to fly the kite and frustrate every action of CRFFN to make it ineffective.
“Approvals upon approvals have been given to commence this collection but the management of CRFFN has been foot dragging in spite of the fact that the court has said that it should have been collecting the fee.
“We are happy when we got the notice about the commencement of collection of POF on 1st August, 2017. Our members met and gave an overwhelming support to the collection. So, without mincing words, we support fully your directive that collection of the Practitioners’ Operating Fee (POF) should commence on 1st August, 2017. We equally support the mode of collection of the fee.
“Every declarant must pay the fee before he exists the border. Do not mind ANLCA’s campaign that it will add to the cost of doing business. It will not because the fee is to be paid by the declarant from the profit he will make from the transaction. CRFFN has already worked out through its Standard Trading Condition that every agent would be paid N250,000, N125,000 and/orN50,000 for every 1×40, 1×20 and/or vehicle cleared. From these approved charges, the declarant pay the fee. So, it will not add to the cost of doing business because it is not importer that pays it but agent. By paying this fee, the agent is appreciating CRFFN for the largesse it has granted him”, the association posited.
It will be recalled that the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has directed the CRFFN to commence collection of POF with effect from August 1, 2017 adding that money realized from the collection will be used to conduct elections into the Governing Board of CRFFN which has been slated for September 23, 2017.
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