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Customs unprepared for destination inspection – NCMDLCA alleges

By BusinessNews Staff on December 13, 2013

National Secretary of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Uchu Block, has warned operators in the maritime industry to brace up for problems ahead because the Nigeria Customs Service does not have all it takes to effectively operate the destination inspection scheme.

Speaking with Vanguard in his office, Block noted that operation of the scheme is not limited to training people to read and interpret the scanning result.

He noted that it involves the engineers that will handle maintenance and other issues that will arise.

According to Block, “They are not ready and not trained for it for now. Training does not just entail getting people to read or interpret the scanning results, it goes beyond that. Training includes thel engineers that will handle the faults when things break down so that no manpower time is lost.

“The infrastructure they have on ground is still the same old ones the service providers put down and they say they want to take over.

Have they gone round to check those machines?

Which machines have they brought in to change those ones that are not working? They have not and they want to take over.

“All they want is these people go and we take over, it is not done that way. Globalscan tried it in Apapa and they had to pay dearly for it as they were working 24 hours, even Saturdays and Sundays, to clear up the backlogs.

“I wonder what Customs will do by the time these service providers are leaving because there is no technology transfer.

These people are not showing Customs beyond the rudiments of what they are doing because they are not happy going away, he stated.

Warning the Customs has to work round the clock to ensure that they get it right, he pointed out that if these preemptive steps are taken, Nigerian importers will be left to bear the cost which will in turn be transferred to the consumers.

In his words, “The importers will pay dearly, paying rent all because of machinery not in good working order. These are the same machinery Customs wants to inherit as Customs have nit said they imported new machinery and trained staff to maintain and repair in case of breakdown.

“It is not just about training as they have being going round talking about PAAR (Pre-Arrival Assessment Report) the major problem of Customs is that of valuation. 80 per cent of Customs do not know anything about the treatment of value.

[Punch]

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