NSC Orders Multinational Shipping Companies to Abolish Container Deposit
Following complaints from shippers about their nightmare over container deposit, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), the ports economic regulator, has directed multinational shipping companies in Nigeria to urgently abolish container deposit being collected from shippers.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, who led a team of top management staff of the council on a visit to some of the shipping companies, said the NSC had been inundated with series of complaints from shippers on their nightmares over container deposit.
Container deposit means the monetary deposit on beverage or other containers at the point of sale. Container deposit is demanded by shipping companies from importers as a guaranty for the return of their empty containers. The deposit is expected to be refunded once the empty containers are returned to the shipping companies by the shippers.
But customs agents across Nigeria have complained over the years that the shipping companies either looked for excuses to deny them the refund or delay in doing so.
The NSC boss, while urging the shipping companies to make the refund within four days after the empty container has been returned, said the shipping companies should also consider ending the regime of collecting deposits.
According to Bello, shipping companies opting to end the collection of container deposit could discuss the issue of how to safeguard their empty containers if possible with an agreement that will be binding on the shipper.
He also raised the issue of indemnity being demanded from customs agents by the shipping companies, saying this should be stopped.
The NSC boss asked the shipping companies to consider, as a matter of national interest, to waive some demurrage caused by the gridlock on the roads leading to the Lagos ports.
According to him, shippers cannot be compelled to pay for demurrage on his goods at the ports for which he was
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Tincan Island Command has announced that it raked in N76.78 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Musa Mohammed Abdullahi, who announced this in a statement, noted that the innovations and reforms towards re-jigging and re-engineering the consciousness of officers/men towards enhancing efficiency and productivity made this possible.
The strategy, which he said was in line with its statutory mandate, appears to be yielding results as evident in the quantum leap of the commands revenue in the first quarter.
Abdullahi stated this while delivering a paper on the “General Overview of the Command”, before a delegation of participants of Senior Division Course 1 / 2018 from the Command & Staff College Gwagwalada led by the Commandant ACG Charles Edike.
He stated that the command in the Q1of 2017 (Jan – March) generated a total of N61.83 billion whereas in the corresponding period of 2018, the command generated N76.78 billion, signifying a difference of N14.94 billion
He said: “Though the Q1 of each year is usually synonymous with low volume of trade, the migration to NICIS II platform by the Command also contributed to some hiccups that affected declarations, but which we have surmounted.”
The Controller, however, reiterated his resolve to ensure that adequate measures were put in place to enable the Command be on top of its statutory mandate, stating categorically that his concept of continuous stakeholder engagement, training and re-training officers as well as trade facilitations models will be leveraged on for service delivery.
He stressed that deliberate and concerted efforts were being made to ensure that the policies and programs of the command is tailored towards achieving enhanced efficiency, while promoting competitiveness in the trade value chain.
He pointed out that the command was at the vanguard of implementation of the presidential directive on Ease of Doing Business as the lead agency and had strengthened the existing relationship with other security/regulatory agencies for actualisation of the directive on creating enabling business environment at the ports.
In his speech, Edike lauded the achievement of the command in the Q1 of 2018 when compared with same period in 2017 and expressed optimism that the controller has what it takes in terms of capacity and integrity to take the command to enviable heights.