Honest disclosures, key to ease of shipping business ― Hameed Ali





Honest disclosures, key to ease of shipping business ― Hameed AliComptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (read)

As shippers flay $1500 freight differentials between Lagos & Eastern ports

By Egufe Yafugborhi

COMPTROLLER General of Customs, Col Hameed Ali, has harped on honest disclosures by the exporters and importers as key to achieving ease of doing business in Nigeria’s shipping industry.

Ali, represented by Auwal Mohammed, Customs Area Comptroller, Onne Ports Area II, noted this in a lecture he presented Thursday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on the 10 Year Anniversary of Global Rays, a news medium focused on the maritime sector.

The CGC in a lecture on ‘Risk Management and Trade Facilitation in Modern Customs Environment’, said, “In the drive to maximise profits, many private companies and individuals circumvent due process through false declarations, concealment, under declaration and outright smuggling using unapproved routes.

ALSO READ: 90% of cars in Nigeria are smuggled, Customs boss, Hameed Ali says

“Compliance is key to save time, save cost, make more profit and likely grow to global standards as we relax on the COVID-19 pandemic induced lull in business and prepare for the formal takeoff of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement to which Nigeria is a signatory”

Meanwhile, licensed agents operating in Eastern Ports have expressed discomfort over freight differentials between Lagos and Eastern Ports, arguing that there is justification for the development tilted to favour Lagos Ports.

Sir Henry Njoku, Chairman on the Global Rays anniversary event, noted that the said freight differentials have become a huge discouragement against patronage of Eastern Ports aside bad roads and insecurity bedeviling Eastern Ports.

Njoku, represented by Michael Ebealu, former Chairman, Oil and Gas Free Zone of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, said, “A situation where we have a differential of $1500 to the detriment of Eastern Ports will always encourage shippers to be fixated on Lagos Ports and abandon other areas.

“Also while it takes 30 days to get to Lagos, it takes 45 to get to Eastern Ports. With roads to Eastern Ports in perpetual sorry conditions, the great potentials these Easter Ports hold for the economy of Nigeria can hardly be realised in absence of deliberate intervention.”

The Global Rays event also witnessed the presentation of awards of excellence to stakeholders who have distinguished themselves in the maritime sector including the CGC, Col Hameed Ali.

Vanguard

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