…Questions role of Maritime Police in cargo clearance
…Wants scale up of commitment to Ease of Doing Business policy
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has said that despite all the efforts of the federal government to ensure seamless cargo clearance out of the nation’s ports, the challenges of clearing cargo at Lagos Ports had persisted.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the LCCI Council meeting held recently in Lagos and signed by the Director-General of the chamber, Mr. Muda Yusuf.
The communiqué noted that apart from the problem of poor access roads to the ports and the associated gridlock, there were concerns about the several units of the Nigeria Customs Service getting involved in cargo interception and clearance processes, creating problems for importers and investors.
It listed some of the units to include; Comptroller General’s Strike Force, Comptroller General’s Task Force, Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU), Comptroller General’s Monitoring Team, Enforcement unit as well as the CAC squad adding that all of these were in addition to the officially approved agencies which had statutory functions for cargo examination and release which include resident Customs officers of the command, NDLEA, DSS, Ports Police, Nigeria Immigration Service, NPA, NIMASA and Port Health.
“The LCCI seeks the urgent intervention of the federal government to stop the disruption that the numerous customs units are creating for importers, within and outside the ports. This practice is a negation of the ease of doing business agenda of the government and it is hurting investors. Delays lead to huge demurrage paid by importers to shipping companies and terminal operators. It also affects the production cycle of manufacturers with implications for cost escalation”, it stated.
Speaking on the Pre-Arrival assessment Report (PAAR), the communiqué observed that the Chamber had received reports of undue delay in the issuance of PAAR to importers adding that the delays create bottlenecks which made the PAAR administration process vulnerable to corrupt practices.
It therefore called on the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) to investigate incessant delays in the release of PAAR and the associated transparency issues saying, “Delays cause high demurrage charges both by shipping companies and the terminal operators”, which according to it constitute additional cost to business.
“LCCI urges the CG Customs to quickly look into this problem”, it said.
The communiqué also said that the LCCI was concerned over the role of maritime police in the clearance of cargo at Lagos ports saying that there were reports of frequent obstruction of release of cargo by Maritime police even when the release had been duly authorized by statutory agencies charged with the responsibility of cargo examination.
It noted that the involvement of maritime police in the cargo release process was a needless duplication, causing avoidable delays and huge demurrage payment by importers even as it posited that already, the port police were involved in the examination and release of cargo at the ports.
“The frequent blocking of cargo by the maritime police is undermining the ease of doing business policy of the federal government.
“Before cargoes are released, DSS and Port Police, are security agencies that authorizes release of cargo. The interception of cargo by the maritime police is a contravention of the presidential Executive order on ports processes. The LCCI calls on the Inspector General of Police to urgently intervene to redress the situation in the interest of the Nigerian economy”, the communiqué added.
While congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on their re-election, the Council stressed the need for the federal government to scale up its commitment to the Ease of Doing Business policy to ensure a reduction in the operating cost for businesses in the economy.
It also urged the government to also prioritize for the following: reform of oil and gas sector and passage of the PIB, fixing the power sector, giving due priority to infrastructure and address security issues in parts of the country.
Others; ensure macro-economic stability, reduce cost of governance and resolve the Apapa gridlock which it said was taking a huge toll on the economy of Lagos state and that of the country.
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