…Expresses absolute confidence in NSC, NPA, CRFFN in resolving the impasse
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has dissociated itself from the move by some aggrieved freight forwarders to carry out a protest including withdrawal of services at the nation’s seaports as from Monday May 4, 2020.
The National President of NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche who made this known in a statement he issued in Lagos on Sunday observed that the planned protest according to some reliable information at their disposal was in connection with the flouting of the directives given by the government agencies to shipping companies and terminal operators to grant waivers on shipping container demurrage from March 30, 2020 to May 3, 2020 and storage/rent charges on all goods at the ports terminals from March 23, 2020 to April 27, 2020.
Uche however warned that any NAGAFF member who chose to be part of the protest did not have the mandate of NAGAFF and shall be treated as a dissident by the association.
In his words, “NAGAFF wishes to dissociate its self from the said protest and to warn that any NAGAFF member who chooses to be part of the protest does not have the mandate of NAGAFF and shall be treated as a dissident by the Association.”
He also recalled that the waiver palliative was brokered by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as a succor to shippers/consignees in order to reduce the effects of the Presidential directives on the lockdowns slammed on Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the attendant skeletal services provided by the various parties in the maritime supply chain, at the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He further noted that all these were in the efforts by the government to sustain the availability of essential goods to the populace and to save the economy from total collapse.
According to him, “We also feel and cherish the concerns of the freight Ffrwarders who have been toiling all these period, and incurring avoidable operational risks in rendering services in obedience to the Presidential directives in keeping the ports operational as essential logistics service providers.
“It is in the light of the above patriotic zeal already exhibited by the practitioners and the importing public that we hereby appeal to our teeming members and all freight forwarding and logistics service providers to remain calm, exercise restraint and give the authorities the chance to address this issue of impunity by the service providers and most importantly, to avoid further worsening the precarious situation and myriads of challenges in the general economy which the federal government has been struggling to reposition.”
He explained that findings had also revealed that while some shipping companies and terminal operators tried to comply initially with the directives, some did not, thereby forcing the compliant ones to renege to the extent of reversing the invoices already raised in compliance to the waiver directives.
“The concerned Regulatory Authorities viz; the NSC, NPA and the CRFFN have been fully briefed with documentary evidences of the proof of the various contraventions by the shipping companies and terminal operators and issued a follow-up orders to the obstinate service providers with severe threat to impose sanctions on the erring ones.
“Let me remind us that freight forwarding is a noble profession with huge reputational risks, which demands that we must exhibit professionalism in all our conducts especially, in maintaining the code of professional ethics that guides the profession. Protest or withdrawal of service should be the last resort when all avenues for dialogue must have been exhausted in all circumstances. Additionally, we should realize that the immediate beneficiaries of the waiver palliatives are the shippers/consignees and not the freight forwarders. While we tried to protect them as our customers in our bid to preserve our clienteles, we should not lose sight of the grave consequences of disrupting the free flow of ports’ operation at this critical time where angry hoodlums could hijack the situation.
“NAGAFF has absolute confidence in NSC, NPA, and CRFFN in resolving the current impasse between the freight forwarders and the service providers (shipping companies and Terminal operators) on the matters of the waiver palliatives. We therefore, urge them to activate their regulatory powers in calling the service providers to order”, he said.
While assuring the teeming members of the association that NAGAFF shall not relent in her public Policy Advocacy dialogue in ensuring that every independent freight forwarder operates in a friendly ecosystem while carrying out his/her businesses at the seaports and the general supply chain, he equally enjoined all freight forwarders to always remember to keep safe by complying with all the guidelines in curbing the spread of the deadly scourge of the COVID-19.
Photo: The National President of NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche.
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