CRFFN moves to regain FIATA membership status

Having lost its status as a member of the International Federation of Freight Forwarding Associations (FIATA) for over two years now, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has set machinery in motion to return Nigeria to the body.

The Chairman, Training Committee of CRFFN, Dr. Kayode Farinto who made this known in an interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos recently said that the first thing the committee was going to do was to put the country back on the membership of FIATA having been delisted following the long absence of the Governing Council which in turn left the Council in the hand of one man in the last seven years.

Farinto maintained that for a country to retain its membership status in FIATA, such a country was required to pay $50 or so as annual subscription adding that Nigeria had not made that payment in the last three years thereby leading to its delisting as a member as well as leaving the country with a debt profile of $350 which it needed to offset to regularize its membership.

“So, we must put Nigeria back on the list of FIATA, having done that, we will now look at the various institutions that were supposed to be offering freight forwarding courses, we look at them, those that have been given licenses, we look at their syllabus. We also look at other ones that have shown interest to be recognized by CRFFN. Above all, we must encourage budding agents to go to school. Even the Council members too will be trained because we are going to set a standard to be met by a freight forwarder. So, if you must practice freight forwarding, there is a minimum course you must have seen to undergone which you must have the certificates, you must be certified.

“And the CRFFN is going to regulate the industry to the extent that, you remember that the Act empowered the CRFFN to set up Tribunal for non-conformists, we are going to make sure this is done. I remember that the Redeemers’ University is one of the Universities that have been accredited by CRFFN, we will encourage our members to go there, like ANLCA too, ANLCA has a training department, we will make sure that they train our members but certification must be done, we are going to set standard for you to practice. It is not going to be all comers affair”, he said.

Asked how long Nigeria had lost its membership of FIATA and why the development was not a common knowledge to the practitioners, Farinto who is also the National Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) stated,” It is over three years. It is not a common knowledge because the staff of the Council sat on it but when I came onboard, I started doing my investigations on our status and I realized that in the last three years, we have been delisted and they have been sending mails to Jukwe, he has deliberately refused to reply the mails and he has deliberately refused to pay up our subscription fee to FIATA.

“So, for us to come back onboard, all these things must be done because I recalled that, FIATA has even given Nigeria power to award National Diploma certificate provided you go through this training. You know, all these things are the things we would have lost except you come back and regularize your membership status. And there are also foreign seminars, conferences and workshops that we need to go. This year alone, there are about two of them, one in South Africa and the other in Switzerland but we should be able to pay our money first before we start talking about all these trainings”.

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