Stakeholders Flay 100% Physical Examination of Cargoes

Stakeholders in the maritime industry have decried the 100 per cent physical examination of cargo in the nation’s seaports.

The stakeholders, including importers and freight forwarders decried a situation where virtually everything imported into the country is subjected to 100 per cent physical examination in the nation’s seaports.

According to them, the subjection of imported goods to 100 per cent physical examination has not only resulted in the slow pace of cargo clearance in Nigerian ports but also added to the high cost of doing business in the country.

“There is no doubt that this is one of the reasons why Nigeria, according to World Bank report, remains one of the most expensive places to do business in the world”, they declared.

The stakeholders spoke against the backdrop of the recent familiarisation tour of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) formations in Lagos and its environs by the Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (retired).

Agents under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), decried a situation where all the scanners in the ports are no longer functioning.

“The development causes a lot of delay in examination of containers at the ports, airports and international land borders”, the association said.

National Publicity Secretary, ANLCA, Mr. Kayode Farinto, who presented the position of the association in Lagos stated that the scanners have become obsolete.

While pledging to work with NCS to provide solutions to some of the challenges militating against the speedy clearance of goods in the nation’s seaports, airports and international land borders, Farinto enjoined the management of NCS to put necessary infrastructures in place to make the job easier.

He said the absence of containers at the ports has led to physical examination of goods in the ports, a trend he said has enriched terminal operators because of the demurrage being incurred.

As a remedy to some of the ills plaguing the ports, ANLCA stressed the need to have a what he called a “unified alerts” rather than getting different alerts from various units of NCS.

On his part, the National President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr. Eugene Nweke, while supporting the position of ANLCA expressed concern that it was wrong for 80 to 90 per cent of containers to be examined physically instead of through scanners.