Council Decries Rejection Of Professional Operating Fees

The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria  (CRFFN) has expressed worry over the refusal of members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLLA) to pay Professional Operating Fees (POF).
Registrar of the council, Sir Mike Jukwe, expressed this worry at a meeting with ANLLA in Port Harcourt, recently.
Jukwe stated that without the cooperation of the association, it would be difficult to collect the operating fees at seaports, airports and borders.
According to him, the position of ANLLA on the matter has stated the collection of POF.
The registrar appealed to the Customs agents and enjoined the association to reconsider their position.
In a recent development, the Customs agents association had accused the CRFFN registrar and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, of violating a Federal High Court order, which directed that the status quo be maintained pending determination of a suit instituted by the association.
ANLLA had complained that the fees were too high and would raise the cost of doing business at the ports to exorbitant levels.
The freight regulatory council is expected to generate N10 billion yearly from the N1,000 fee imposed on every imported 20-foot container and N2,000 on every 40-foot container, while N1,000 would be collected per truck load of general cargo, N500 per imported car and N1,000 on other types of imported vehicles.

Tonye Nria-Dappa