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Stakeholders back regulator in drive for ports efficiency

By on June 23, 2014

As the guidelines for the new ways of doing business at the ports are awaited from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as the ports regulator, industry stakeholders, apparently apprehensive of the outcome,  say they will all the same  support   any  regulation that will bring about efficiency in  cargo delivery system, reports Francis Ugwoke

The series of consultations as part of the moves to sanitise the nation’s ports industry to be in line with other international seaports have begun to receive positive signals from industry stakeholders. The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), which was appointed Ports Economic Regulator had in the past few months been involved in  consultations with all stakeholders across the ports nationwide, including terminal operators, importers and their  freight forwarders, maritime lawyers, shipping companies, stevedores, among others  on what can be described as sensitisation mission as well as for  cooperation. The target is to ensure compliance on what may form the guidelines that  are expected to be released by the regulator  on new ways of doing business  at the ports. As the Deputy Director, Public Relations, NSC, Mr. Ignatius Nweke, puts it, the leadership and management of the council have deliberately embarked on series of consultations with key stakeholders  so that they can  buy-into what the federal government  expects from the Ports Regulator  by complying fully with the guidelines  when released.

The guidelines are expected to cover procedures on operations and costs  of services. Nweke explained that the problem all these years has been that there has not been any clear procedure for any operator to follow,  a situation he describes as  not the best. He however added that the idea of the guidelines should not be seen as a clampdown on anybody but for the operators to buy into what is expected of them in the new system as necessary to achieve efficiency in the ports system. In response to this  development,  freight forwarders who are  in the forefront as  the main actors in the system because of their  positions  as the go-between  for the international traders that  own goods coming to the ports and   other operators in the system  told THISDAY that they will accept any measure that will improve trade facilitation at the  ports.  To industry observers, the position of the freight forwarders have over the years been in support  of the need for a regulator in the ports. They started the agitation for a regulator soon after the nation’s ports were taken away from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and concessioned to the private operators. Their call for a ports regulator is described as in order and a clear indication that they will abide by the rules and regulations expected of such exercise. This is considering that they will also come under the scrutiny of the regulator in their charges  and other unfair practices against them.

Contentious Issues  in Ports Regulation
The ports regulator has a big challenge as far as achieving efficiency in the system is concerned. And this is for obvious reasons.   Every aspect of operation in the ports appears to be infested with corruption and malpractices, from the service providers to the consumers.  The importers and their   agents who complain against terminal operators, customs officers and shipping companies also have skeleton in their cupboards.  Most times, the service providers, including terminal operators, customs officers and shipping companies take advantage of the   fraudulent nature of the importers and their agents to  shortchange them by introducing frivolous charges or unobtainable charges in the system.  For some customs officers, the malpractices, such as under-declaration, concealment and underpayment of actual duties, among other fraudulent   practices committed by importers  are avenues or reasons for extortion.  It is also on record that the congestion or delays in goods clearance at the ports could be as a result of all forms of malpractices committed by importers. On the other hand, many terminal operators have not invested in enough cargo handling equipment in what has  led to delay in  goods examination at the ports or final delivery. The importers suffer this as they are charged demurrage when their goods are not taken out of the terminal in good time as a result of this problem.  The terminal operators have over the years since the concessioning was carried out taken advantage of the shortcomings of the importers to also introduce a number of charges  without consultation as against the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the government.  Unscrupulous customs officers have equally taken advantage of the fraudulent nature of importers who most times undervalue their goods in order to evade payment of accurate l duty, to also extort them massively.  Sometimes, the malpractices committed by the importers are the reasons why there are delays in the release of their goods.

The shipping companies are also not left out as they introduce high charges on importers as a result of the delay some of them suffer before discharging their goods at the ports. Some of them had following the increasing rate of piracy in the Gulf  of Guinea  also raised their charges for imports coming to Nigeria and other West Africa. Some of them had classified Nigeria as worse than Somalia in the activities of pirates in order to impose high shipping charges. Here in Nigeria, the local shipping companies have also been accused of introducing other shipping charges described as unapplicable in Nigerian ports. These are some of the challenges of the ports regulator. These are indeed serious task as almost everyone  in the system complaining of one problem or the other cannot boast of clean hands in their own transactions.

Stakeholders’ Response to Guidelines
The response of the various stakeholders to embrace change in the ports by cooperating with the NSC as the regulator has been wonderful, officials of the Ports Regulator have said. The terminal operators who initially were apprehensive of the appointment of the NSC as a regulator have all pledged to cooperate with the regulator in its assignment. The shipping companies have also followed, expressing  willingness to abide by the rules and regulations as may be released by the council.  Similarly, freight forwarders told THISDAY that they will not be left out in the efforts of the federal government to correct  the ills in the system.
Founder, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, and the President of the Association,   Dr. Eugene Nweke, said that the appointment of the Ports regulator could not have come at a better time than now. Both Aniebonam and Nweke said they will support the council in its assignment to bring efficiency in the system. They called on the Council to look critically at the various charges being imposed on importers at the ports by terminal operators and shipping companies.

Similarly, maritime lawyer, Mr Emma Ofomata told THISDAY that the council as a regulator has a lot to do in sanitising the system.  Ofomata called on the regulator to call for the various charges being collected by both shipping companies and terminal operators so as to scrutinise and determine their applicability in the ports system. Some of the charges, he said, were illegal. He also said the regulator should be fast in introducing the guidelines for every operator in the system, adding that this will go a long way in checking illegal charges. “My expectation is that the ports regulator will do a good job in introducing guidelines in which everyone will follow.  Such guideline will check reckless introduction of shipping charges without notice”, he said. He also called on the council to ensure that the freight forwarding professionals   produce their own charges that will be a uniform  through various associations to help in designing new clearing charges for agents. According to him, this will check fraud in the clearing system.

Beyond Guidelines
Beyond the issue of guidelines, other stakeholders also called on the  Ports regulator to make efforts to get government and other stakeholders in the system  to put heads together  to address the traffic problem  around the ports areas in   Lagos.  Former President of Stevedoring Associations of Nigeria and Managing Director of Stallion  Stevedores Limited, Alhaji  Auwalu Ilu, said that there had to be a collaborative effort between all the stakeholders and government on how to address the gridlock around the ports areas in Lagos.  He said that this was responsible for some of the congestion in the ports. “ The roads in and out of the ports need to be maintained properly.  It is something the regulator  needs to  bring  all the stakeholders together  in a forum and look at the role each will play to address the problem”, he said.

 

 

[This Day]

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