Multiplicity of Checkpoints: NAGAFF Withdraws from Protest against Customs, Says it Prefers Dialogue
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has directed its members not to be part of a planned shutdown of the ports in protest against the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the multiplicity of checkpoints that are affecting trade facilitation.
NAGAFF was among other associations that came under the umbrella ‘Concerned Freight Forwarders’ to protest against the Customs giving the Customs Comptroller General, Rtd Col. Hammed Ali 72 hours to address the issue or face shut down of ports.
The agents had identified 10 different units of the Customs, including the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Headquarters Strike Force and others which are constituting obstacles to trade in the ports and border stations.
But in a statement issued by the President of NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche, the association said it will not support any act of unprofessional conduct capable of breaching the public peace by any of its members and/or freight forwarders in general.
Uche said that the association would prefer to consult and dialogue instead of being part of any shut down of the ports.
Part of the statement from NAGAFF reads:
“The Federal Government is already overburdened by the level of insecurity
in the Country and the need to tread cautiously cannot be overemphasized.
We wish therefore, to advice every member of NAGAFF who may be involved in
this agitation to avoid doing anything contrary to the professional ethics
and values of the Association. NAGAFF has the trademark of consultations,
communication and dialogue to resolve issues instead of resorting to acts
capable of undermining the well being of the country. We had already
initiated engagements to address the issues with the Authorities and we do
hope that all shall be well.
“The threat of withdrawal of service at this stage of perceived grievances
is premature until all avenues for dialogue have been exhausted. May we
therefore, appeal for calm and patience, while consultations are ongoing.
Our assurances to every freight forwarding practitioner is that the
issue(s) being agitated for shall be addressed squarely with the
appropriate authority.
Having used this medium to plead for stakeholders to tread cautiously and
imbibe the culture of peaceful engagement through dialogue, consultations
and communication. It is equally necessary to place it on record that
NAGAFF pledged its total support to the Nigeria Customs Service. Our
position was made open to the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs
Service CGC Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) on his historic visit to NAGAFF
Headquarters on the 27th of March, 2017.
“The visit was aimed at actualizing the Presidential mandate to reform, restructure and enhance
revenue collection. Nonetheless, it appears that the CGC needs to increase
his stakes especially in the area of delegation of powers and
harmonization of operational guidelines. To achieve necessary objective
under the circumstance, there is an urgent need for the top management
officials of the service to close ranks and deploy the principles of the
golden rule and the law in relation to improper documentation of import
and export transactions in the Customs Ports. The ACG of zones should also
be given some powers to enable them address issues within their zones,
rather than taking operational matter to Customs Headquarters which shall
be primarily administrative. This to a large extent will help reduce the
work load at Customs Headquarters, thereby reducing tension and delay. The
inherent abuse in the manner alerts are being issued over a transaction
requires CGC attention for harmonization.
“We can simply observe that there seems to be some sort of distrust among
strategic officers of the service, otherwise an Area Comptroller has the
mandate and capacity to address most of the trade related matters and
inform headquarters accordingly. The importance of Nigerian Customs
Service and other related government agencies cannot be over emphasized.
This is because any barrier to trade is a barrier to national development.
Under the extant laws governing Customs operations regarding the
destination inspection trade policy, it is trite to note that Section 28
of CEMA 2004 as amended provides a channel of resolution of trade disputes
related to improper documentation. We therefore encourage the management
team of Customs to deploy the relevant Sections and indeed repose
confidence on the Area Comptrollers to ensure adequate protection of
Government revenue under the circumstance.
“In this era of “ease of doing business”, every effort should be made to
reduce human element barriers and disobedience to lawful orders and
regulations. The inherent duplication of duty should be addressed to make
way for productivity in our ports. In our candid professional advise it
is to us that the Customs examiners, the Valuation Unit, Customs
Intelligence Unit, CGC Strike Force and the Federal Operations Units
stand out to ensure due compliance to import and export regulations. This
release is being endorsed to the Comptroller General of Customs Col.
Hameed Ali (Rtd.), other heads of government, Founder of NAGAFF and
accredited Freight Associations in the Customs ports for necessary action
and assistance to ports users”.
Customs spokesman, Mr Joseph Attah had in reaction to the concerns raised by the agents justified the action of the Customs units, arguing that the officers have not violated extant laws in their activities.
A ttah said that the checkpoints were part of the anti-smuggling war by three units of the Customs, namely – the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Command resident officers and Headquarters Strike Force.
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