Following the recent directive by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) banning the use of barges to evacuate cargo from seaport with immediate effect, freight forwarders have expressed divergent opinion over the appropriateness or otherwise of the action.
While some of the respondents who spoke to our correspondent on the development okayed the action of the Customs CG, others vehemently opposed the action describing it as an action aimed at killing trade in Nigeria.
First to speak was the President General of the Nigerian Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidator (NAFFAC), Prince Adeyinka Bakare who believed that the circular conveying the ban was not genuine adding that if it was, then something was wrong somewhere.
According to him, “I want to believe the CG is not properly briefed, I want to believe it is not coming from the office of the CG and the DCG that signed it, DCG Chidi is a seasoned professional, a customs officer to the core, I don’t believe he will do that. Probably, he didn’t know the magnitude of what he was asked to stop because naturally, aside the traffic situation in Nigeria, movement of cargoes by water out of the seaport should be what should be properly encouraged in Nigeria so that the number of trucks moving on the streets and on the expressway should be reduced. I think aside the traffic, that is what the federal government should encourage seriously because it is going to be cheaper than the road transport and it will make cargo available.”
Bakare noted that stopping the use of barges to evacuate cargo out of the port was not a good idea even as he believed that the idea of sending out that circular was not in the interest of Nigeria and that of trade facilitation saying “that is why I want to believe that probably, the letter is not genuine or probably, the CG is not properly briefed.”
He continued, “It is a means of transportation, the only thing we could do here is if there is diversion of cargoes as they alleged, they should put measures in place to ensure it did not repeat but stopping the use of barges to evacuate cargoes is totally against trade, that was why I said that I don’t want to believe that somebody that wants to facilitate trade, somebody that is looking at how to generate more revenue, somebody that is looking at how to bring cargo in and out of Nigeria is issuing that directive.”
On whether the CGC had the powers to issue the directive in the first place, Bakare who is also a member of the Governing Council of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) had this to say, “No! It is beyond his jurisdiction. We are expecting NPA and NIWA to react because they licensed the barge operators, they gave them permit to move and if you give somebody permit to carry out business and somebody has invested millions of Naira in bringing barges to move containers, only for somebody to come up with this directive. Well, you can say we are not going to load you until this is done, then you put them under check where proper thing should be done for them to load. But stopping the movement, I don’t think it is proper.
“I am not sure there is diversion because barges don’t go to warehouse, so diverting to where? It looks a bit not too professional to say barges going to warehouse instead of to the terminals or jetties then from there, they are offloaded into the jetty and then trucks will now take them to whatsoever warehouse. So, barges diverting to warehouse, I don’t understand that.”
On his part, the founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam stated that customs had done nothing wrong as it was basically implementing the law which was in operation.
While arguing that what was critical was the law, he observed that Section 19 of the Customs and Excise Act (CEMA) as amended clearly states under the caption “Control of Movement of Uncleared Goods”, that “(1) The Board may, from time to time, give general or special directions as to the manner in which and the condition under which goods chargeable with any duty which has not been paid, or drawback goods, or any other goods which have not been cleared or any class or description of such goods, may be moved between any place in Nigeria and any other place therein.
“(2) Any such direction may include directions requiring that any such goods shall be moved only by such routes, by such persons, in such ships, aircraft or vehicles or by such other means as may be approved by the Board for that purpose and any such approval may be granted for such period and subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Board may think fit and may be revoked at any time by the Board.”
He said, “Now, what is the meaning? The power of the customs to control movement of cargo, now customs is saying that this cargo moving by barge to enhance the utilization of the outer terminals, that such movement is impugning on the statutory responsibility of customs vide revenue function and even security. You see, when you divert cargo, something is wrong, so, the customs has taken a proactive measure to stop that relying on Section 19 to control the movement of cargo.
“So, customs has done nothing wrong, they are basically implementing the law which is in operation. But what I could say now is that the essence of establishing outer terminals is to cushion the effect of congestion in the mother ports. It is evidently clear right now that the port is congested. This direction being given by the customs is most inappropriate right now and that was why I told you that laws are made for man and not man for the law.
“What customs ought to do now since the operating word diversion has come into bear and intelligence has shown, what the customs must do most appropriately now is to include escort duty on those barges and that will avert diversion. In this case, within the hinterlands, the Federal Operations Unit has that responsibility to escort goods through the land to the outer terminals. On the other hand, when you discuss marine operation, the customs has marine department, to that extent, the marine department should be drafted to escort the barges and that would have solved the issue of diversion.
“So, I just hope that the customs should take a second look and do what is most appropriate for the interest of trade, the public and patriotism. Our approach to the customs should be done in a manner that we ask them to employ the principles of compassionate ground but if we use force or threats, we are out of it. But I believe that the management of customs is made up of highly responsible persons and they will attend to the yearnings of the greater number of the critical stakeholders who felt that this is not a good law.”
Also speaking, a member of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and Managing Director, Goldlink Investment Nigeria Limited, Sir Tony Anakebe observed that although the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service had the power to issue such directive, he should do so in consonance with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) who according to him was statutorily authorized to dispatch containers in whatever means to any terminal or places it deemed it fit to allocate the ship.
He argued that the best thing NCS could do was to strictly manage the movement of the barges as it was now clear that NPA was trying by all means to see to the inflow and outflow of containers in the ports adding “that is why they are looking for any means to evacuate cargoes and that is to avoid too much congestion which we are already experiencing.”
“I believe the customs CG in his own respect should come down and find a better solution to manage the barges because what the agents are going through in Apapa and all the seaports around is not to the benefit of the economy”, he added.
On whether goods can actually be diverted to illegal warehouse through the use of barges, he said, “In Nigeria, anything can happen; there are some people that can take the advantage of those barges. Remember there was one time we had the problem of containers being removed out of the ports on its way to the bonded terminals and that caused a lot of customs officers their jobs but the actual thing is the methodology the customs has adopted in monitoring the barges. That is where it lies and customs cannot tell us that they don’t know any other way to solve this problem.
“How can customs tell me that if you load at least 100 containers in a barge in Tincan Island, remember, these barges have been working in RORO terminal for years and no car have left the port without customs knowledge. So, how can customs tell me that a container that is loaded in Apapa for delivery to another terminal in Victoria Island or Satellite Town and they tell me that the container is missing? So, if they can monitor that of the vehicle, the barges carry more than 200 cars at a time, how can they tell me that a container will be missing on transit from one barge to either bonded terminal or any other place. So, it is complicity between those involved. So, the CG should look at what is actually going on and get his men to do their job efficiently.”
Photo: Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.).
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