Terminal Operators Seek Import Policy Review

Bonded terminal op
erators in Lagos have lamented low activities at the nation’s ports and called for a review of import restriction policy affecting some items not produced locally.
The operators said in separate interviews with newsmen in Lagos that the situation had aggravated “dearth of business at the bonded terminals.’’
A manager in Aulic Bonded Terminal in Lagos, Mr Emeka Onwumere, said that the ban imposed on some imported items had rendered importers and freight forwarders idle.
“How can anybody expect the bonded terminals to flourish when a lot of items have been listed as contraband.
“When many goods are imported, containers stocked-piled at the ports can be transferred to bonded terminals,’’ Onwumere said.
According to him, some of the restricted items still find their ways through the land borders into Nigerian markets with a lot of revenue accruing to the neighbouring countries.
The Terminal Manager, Sapid Bonded Terminal, Mr Steve Solomon, said, “Even when it is obvious that the ports are congested, operators still find it difficult to release containers to bonded terminals.