Even as freight for
warders have continued to lament the delay of the pre Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) in the clearing procedures of consignments from the nation’s seaports, the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS) has described the Nigerian Customs Service initiative as anti-local content, saying that PAAR is a total failure.
The Chamber’s Director General Mrs. Ify Akerele made the observation to journalists under the auspices of Maritime Reporters Correspondent of Nigeria (MARCON) in Lagos at the weekend. Akerele urged the customs to go back to status quo in brining about smooth clearance of cargoes from the seaports.
The Director General reiterated that the service providers were competent for the destination inspection of imports, but the Customs were overzealous to takeover the scheme, which has overtime caused hiccups in the clearance procedures of cargoes from the ports.
Akerele noted that the sacked service providers were more reliable and competent than what the Customs, saying it would bring about efficiency in clearing procedures of goods.
She explained that there is the need for government to reverse the policy that is connected with PAAR, because PAAR has not been effective in port operation.
Consequently, she pointed out that the Customs did not have the technological, know-how on PAAR, which she believed has been the reason behind the bottleneck faced by operators at the ports.
I am only being realistic about the situation on ground because PAAR cannot work except you put the experts on ground to run it, Akerele maintained.
Speaking further the D.G. stressed that there is need to put in place the right operators to manage the situation faced by freight forwarders noting that Customs duty on imported goods is high compared to other countries of the world.
She however lauded the effort of neighboring countries by reducing the tariff on imported rice and faulted the policy makers on duty hike on the staple food.
The D.G. said “I feel sorry for the government because they have a very good intention to discourage importation of rice but as they were making that law, the importers and officials that oversees it find an alternative and I don’t also blame our neighbouring countries to reduce there import tariff because we gave them a bonanza and they are having a good time with it.”
Akerele also stressed that the chambers will continue to advocate for Nigerian participation in the maritime sector adding that there has been steady progression maritime sector as regards cabotage and local content act.
She however called on foreign investors to inculcate the habit of empowering local operators to meet with international best practice.