Freight Forwarders Advocates For 1% FOB Professional Fee

Freight forwarders have advocated for one per cent of freight on board (FOB) as professional fee for practitioners as a measure to end decades of fraudulent practices involved in clearance of goods at the nation’s ports.

Hence, it is the Federal Government that is responsible for the payment of professional   fee to customs agents clearing any consignment at the ports instead of relying on payment from importers.

President of Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Alhaji  Olayiwora Shittu, explained that the idea is that the customs agents  by  the fact that he earns his revenue from government will  be more patriotic to the nation in fighting all forms of  malpractices adopted by  importers  to defraud the government.

He called on the government to consider allowing customs agents to be paid one percent FOB on every import to keep him away from being involved in under-declaration, under-valuation and concealment at the ports through which government loses so much revenue.

“In America, freight forwarders are business people, customs brokers are licensed by government. The individual is a customs broker, the company is a licensed agent. In Nigeria, what you have is licensed agencies. I am not the person licensed, it is the company. What we are trying to do now is to separate the company from the individual. This is because for customs brokerage, of any country that is import dependent, that customs brokerage profession must be given due attention in order for government to maximize profit. The customs broker is not just anybody on the street.

“He is licensed; they do what is called background check that is security check of that person.  In America,   customs broker   must have government bonds, and that is, this ability to perform on behalf of government is guaranteed. The bond is tied to a bank.  The job of the importer’s documentation    lands with him. He has no business dealing with the importer, he simply calculates duties payable by the importer without the importer’s influence. He handles all the clearance process, pay all the correct duty, pay all the terminal charges and delivers to the importer. Then, the customs broker submits his invoice to the bank (to the importer’s bank) and by the guarantees of the Central Bank of America, the importer’s bank must pay that money 72 hours”.

He explained that under the system, the customs broker’s bank is the one paying all the charges on behalf of the importer.

He said that the advantage of the commission is an incentive “so that   the more you pay duty, you know that something is coming to you”.

Shittu said that the current geometric rise in duty being collected by the Nigeria Customs Service was as a result of   the fact that the organization is given some percentage by government on what it collects.

He added that when customs agents are paid commission, they will no longer be tied to the aprons of the importers as the responsibility will be to the authority giving them license or commission.

He called on government to adopt this method through customs agencies that have proven integrity and thereafter continue to improve on the list every year.