Nigeria Shippers Council Insists On 48-Hour Cargo Clearance

To ensure that the ports are not congested, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is insisting on 48-hour clearance of goods.

 At a meeting with terminal operators, Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) officers and other stakeholders, NSC Executive Secretary Hassan Bello argued that meeting the cargo clearance deadline was the only way to free the ports.

Bello is also seeking an amendment of the NSC Act to strengthen its control of traffic, rates and related economic charges at the ports.

“The Act establishing the NSC to needs to be amended by the National Assembly to enable “NSC enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of ports services as it is required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act”, Bello said when contacted.

 According to him, the council’s aim is to provide platforms for cargo clearance to make the ports more efficient.

 He urged stakeholders to resolve the challenges of quick cargo clearance, saying: “The idea is that the NSC is the referee in this friendly contest, and the more we interact with the service providers and government agencies, the better understanding we will get.”

 The council, he said, is focusing on trade facilitation and quick cargo clearance to boost government revenue.

 Bello said: “We need automation in our ports instead of doing things manually. We need to streamline these processes and develop standard operating procedures, and check the presence of government agencies at the ports on what they are doing, and the Customs to also up their game in automation.

 “They have led the way, but we need other stakeholders to come and buy in. So, we are doing a lot of consultations while we supervise and moderate. Customs has been leading in so many areas of what our ultimate aim is, which is automation, providing platforms for cargo clearance so that our ports will become efficient.

 “The trade facilitation issue they have pioneered is something very commendable and it is a starting point.”

 He suggested the streamlining of cargo clearance procedures to ensure the ports are more competitive with others in West and Central.

 “Nigerians ports are in competition with other ports within the sub-region, so we have to streamline our clearance procedures – the way we do business so that we attract more cargoes to Nigerian ports.”

 “We need to develop standard operating procedures. We need quality services to ensure that there is a balance in relationship between service providers and users in the industry,” he said.

 Credit:Nation