…Faults exclusion of freight forwarders from Steering Committee
The Registrar, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF Academy, Fwdr. Francis Omotosho has said that the Federal Government has delayed and contravened the deadline given by all the three world trade regulatory organizations namely: International Maritime Organization, IMO, World Customs Organization, WCO and World Trade Organization, WTO.
Omotosho who stated this while reacting to the setting up of the National Single Window Project Steering Committee by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday in Abuja said that January 1, 2024 was earlier set aside by the world trading bodies for all the 164 shipping and trading countries of the world to have developed and implemented a National Single Window platform for their trading systems.
He disclosed that the Single Window is a concept adopted under the IMO Convention of Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic, FAL, WCO International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Kyoto Convention) and WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement; which required all government agencies regulating shipping and international trade logistics systems to use a single digital platform to share and exchange information.
According to him, it also permits the traders or transporters to submit or lodge all the data, information and documents needed for determining admissibility of the ships and cargoes in a standardized format ONLY ONCE to all the regulatory agencies on that single digital portal or platform, to be controlled by a Central Unified Interface Lead Agency among the agencies.
“It also allows the traders to view all interactions between the regulatory agencies without regard for the internal divisions within the Government regulatory agencies in order to acquire the necessary documents, permits, and clearances for their shipments.
“No doubt, this will streamline procedures to clear the arrival, stay and departure of ships and swift cargo clearance and greatly enhance the efficiency of Nigerian ports operations, logistics and supply chain systems.
“However, in Nigeria today, Nigeria Customs Service has its own Single Window which other regulatory agencies have been complaining that they cannot see anything inside the portal through the window; even if the Customs opens the door of the platform wide, they may not see anything at all and now the Nigerian Ports Authority has started its own Single Window platform to achieve the same objective as stated above.
“Unfortunately, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Nigeria Customs Service are not ready to collapse and merge with the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA’s new robust single trade platform. Nigerians are waiting. I am sure the impeding consequences are huge because IMO will be waiting for Nigeria as well for any benefit without compliance with this order”, Omotosho who is also the Senior Forwarder of Nigeria said.
While commending the federal government for setting up the National Single Window Project Steering Committee which he described as “another move in the right direction”, he however, decried the non inclusion of the freight forwarders who he described as “the main users and players of the concept of Single Window ” from that Steering Committee even as he called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remedy the situation and ensure balance in the committee.
It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, inaugurated a steering committee to drive the initiative called the National Single Window Project, NSWP which is domiciled at the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS. It is an electronic portal that links all agencies and players in import and export processes to an integrated platform.
Membership of the Presidential Steering Committee for the project is drawn from the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and key private sector players such as exporters, importers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, banks, and clearing agents.
Photo: Fwdr. Francis Omotosho, Registrar, NAGAFF Academy.
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