How Corruption Threatens Automation at Ports, by NAGAFF President
*Identifies Cargo Tracking Note as necessary for transparency in imports
By Francis Ugwoke
The obstacles being faced in federal government’s automation programme at the ports have been traced to high level corruption in the system involving some unscrupulous elements who are sabotaging the efforts.
President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Increase Uche, told SHIPPING DAY that automation which recorded impressive implementation after the port concessioning programme in 2006 soon suffered set-backs as a result of deliberate sabotage by players whom he identified as customs personnel.
Uche revealed that some customs officers in the Customs Processing Centre (CPC) and terminals had soon realized that they were no longer making personal money as was the case before due to absence of physical interface with shippers and their clearing agents before sabotaging the programme.
He said this was through issuance of frivolous alerts which forced importers and their customs agents to go back to them over queries that created room for settlements.
Uche said, “Automation should have worked in 2006 after the port concession. We expected it to have worked, then perfection should have followed but as the process was being perfected at that time, up to 2008, you can request for payment of customs duty, you do the assessment, you take delivery of your cargo without interfacing with anybody. As at that time, with scanner once your cargo is on green lane what you require is to go to the terminal and carry your goods to leave. By that nothing is causing you any encumbrance. But at a stage, when customs at CPC discovered that nobody was coming there anymore, and those at the terminals found out nobody recognized their presence any more, they started posting alerts. That was what reversed the whole thing. The CPC that was almost deserted became lively again towards 2008 and early 2009. So that was how automation under ASYCUDA 2.7 was reversed again”.
Alert sent to customs agents in respect of any container is a query which must be cleared before the affected goods can be allowed to leave the ports.
The NAGAFF President said the industry would have gone very far with automation if not for the sabotage, regretting that what obtains now was not reliable in critical areas of goods delivery.
He dismissed the claim by the Customs that single window was working in the ports, adding that it was not effective enough for the desired trade facilitation in the country and in line with what obtains in other climes.
According to him, there was lack of synergy, integration among critical players in the industry, adding that even shipping companies were not interfaced with Customs except few of them.
He said that among those currently interfacing with the Customs on the single window platform were Marskline, APMT, Grimaldi and PTML.
He told SHIPPING DAY, “There is no other area in the ports where automation is not needed. We need to depart from this manual processing of any stage of port operation. It involves everyone, the banks, the freight forwarders, customs facilitation, shipping companies, cargo delivery from the terminal. In fact the whole areas need to be integrated. There should be comprehensive integration of all the players. This era after experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown requires that the port operation should be fully automated. All port operations need digital transformation. That is the reason why the single window implementation must be put into motion. When you meet some of these government agencies like Customs, they will tell you that the single window is in place and that the third quarter is there, that is the upstream part of the supply chain in Nigeria. Customs has created a portal to capture what you are importing, but the main downstream where the full documentation for clearance, processing and delivery of cargo is not there. There is no synergy, no integration, every other person is working across purposes. Even shipping companies are not interfacing with customs , it is only few of them that are doing that, like Marskline, APMT, Grimaldi, PTML and all that. But almost all other shipping companies have not undergone full automation process. Automation should be comprehensive for every other player. We don’t need manual processing any more, it is slowing down processes. It is making clearance system cumbersome”.
Uche also said the experience freight forwarders gathered during the lockdown when they were trying to make payments online was revealing on the faulty nature of automation in the nation’s ports.
“They (freight forwarders) were not successful because the process put in place by the shipping companies, at what they request you to do in order to get through were not interactive enough in their platform. A lot of hiccups where they require this and that. If we want to simplify these things and fast track the system then we need a situation whereby the online transaction should be just click here – a simplified approach. The major issue now is the server failure – even when the system is there, most times, the server is not there to fasten operation. For instance, you want to request for form online from a shipping company, it is difficult accessing the server. After accessing the server, the invoice online, making payment is another issue, it takes days . So it is as good as automation is not being there because if automated system is fully working, it should be prompt, immediately you make a request, it should be generated”.
When reminded that in other climes, freight forwarders remain in their offices and get goods delivered to the owners without visiting the ports, he said this may not be possible in Nigeria because of the mindset of some people, adding that what was needed was a reorientation.
He said, “With the mindset of the people in the sector, it is not possible for now, we need reorientation because the average player in the industry is looking at how to interface and he is making his money. He is not even looking at the revenue generation to the federal government. It is always a dual interest that people try to maintain when you are trying to raise revenue for the federal government what is entering into your own pocket”.
For automation to be effective in the ports, Uche called for the intervention of the federal government, insisting that with will political power no individual will frustrate government programmes because self serving interest.
He also recalled how Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) can be effective in facilitating trade at the ports.
“ So government needs to intervene in finding out areas where there are disturbances on having an effective automation and make corrections. We started this in 2006 after the port concessioning when the system was so transparent and coupled with the fact that CTN was working . Every information pertaining to the cargo is available with CTN. Then if you had issue, Customs will say go and bring your CTN which will contain every information that helped to resolve so many problems. But at a stage, the whole process was thwarted, people were no more getting what they were targeting for their individual pockets.
“Yes, corruption is a big threat to automation. But it still takes the will power of the government to get things done better, because no individual is higher than the government. If we want to perfect the system because all these things are working in other climes, why should it not work here, are we animals?.Are we not reading what other countries are doing perfecting their system. What is that interest anyone wants to secure that government will put a particular system in place and people will go and thwart it and don’t want it to work because your interest is not covered. If you go to ports of Anthwerp and all that, they are not talking of scanners any more. In places like Rotterdam port, the level they are now is Radio Frequency Identification Device (DFID). That is what is being used where it is fired on container . There you don’t need to go for scanning any more they have advanced to some other levels. Here (Nigeria) we are talking of functional scanners which are not even working, so government can do something and make automation work despite the mindset of some players in the system”.
By Francis Ugwoke
The obstacles being faced in federal government’s automation programme at the ports have been traced to high level corruption in the system involving some unscrupulous elements who are sabotaging the efforts.
President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Increase Uche, told SHIPPING DAY that automation which recorded impressive implementation after the port concessioning programme in 2006 soon suffered set-backs as a result of deliberate sabotage by players whom he identified as customs personnel.
Uche revealed that some customs officers in the Customs Processing Centre (CPC) and terminals had soon realized that they were no longer making personal money as was the case before due to absence of physical interface with shippers and their clearing agents before sabotaging the programme.
He said this was through issuance of frivolous alerts which forced importers and their customs agents to go back to them over queries that created room for settlements.
Uche said, “Automation should have worked in 2006 after the port concession. We expected it to have worked, then perfection should have followed but as the process was being perfected at that time, up to 2008, you can request for payment of customs duty, you do the assessment, you take delivery of your cargo without interfacing with anybody. As at that time, with scanner once your cargo is on green lane what you require is to go to the terminal and carry your goods to leave. By that nothing is causing you any encumbrance. But at a stage, when customs at CPC discovered that nobody was coming there anymore, and those at the terminals found out nobody recognized their presence any more, they started posting alerts. That was what reversed the whole thing. The CPC that was almost deserted became lively again towards 2008 and early 2009. So that was how automation under ASYCUDA 2.7 was reversed again”.
Alert sent to customs agents in respect of any container is a query which must be cleared before the affected goods can be allowed to leave the ports.
The NAGAFF President said the industry would have gone very far with automation if not for the sabotage, regretting that what obtains now was not reliable in critical areas of goods delivery.
He dismissed the claim by the Customs that single window was working in the ports, adding that it was not effective enough for the desired trade facilitation in the country and in line with what obtains in other climes.
According to him, there was lack of synergy, integration among critical players in the industry, adding that even shipping companies were not interfaced with Customs except few of them.
He said that among those currently interfacing with the Customs on the single window platform were Marskline, APMT, Grimaldi and PTML.
He told SHIPPING DAY, “There is no other area in the ports where automation is not needed. We need to depart from this manual processing of any stage of port operation. It involves everyone, the banks, the freight forwarders, customs facilitation, shipping companies, cargo delivery from the terminal. In fact the whole areas need to be integrated. There should be comprehensive integration of all the players. This era after experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown requires that the port operation should be fully automated. All port operations need digital transformation. That is the reason why the single window implementation must be put into motion. When you meet some of these government agencies like Customs, they will tell you that the single window is in place and that the third quarter is there, that is the upstream part of the supply chain in Nigeria. Customs has created a portal to capture what you are importing, but the main downstream where the full documentation for clearance, processing and delivery of cargo is not there. There is no synergy, no integration, every other person is working across purposes. Even shipping companies are not interfacing with customs , it is only few of them that are doing that, like Marskline, APMT, Grimaldi, PTML and all that. But almost all other shipping companies have not undergone full automation process. Automation should be comprehensive for every other player. We don’t need manual processing any more, it is slowing down processes. It is making clearance system cumbersome”.
Uche also said the experience freight forwarders gathered during the lockdown when they were trying to make payments online was revealing on the faulty nature of automation in the nation’s ports.
“They (freight forwarders) were not successful because the process put in place by the shipping companies, at what they request you to do in order to get through were not interactive enough in their platform. A lot of hiccups where they require this and that. If we want to simplify these things and fast track the system then we need a situation whereby the online transaction should be just click here – a simplified approach. The major issue now is the server failure – even when the system is there, most times, the server is not there to fasten operation. For instance, you want to request for form online from a shipping company, it is difficult accessing the server. After accessing the server, the invoice online, making payment is another issue, it takes days . So it is as good as automation is not being there because if automated system is fully working, it should be prompt, immediately you make a request, it should be generated”.
When reminded that in other climes, freight forwarders remain in their offices and get goods delivered to the owners without visiting the ports, he said this may not be possible in Nigeria because of the mindset of some people, adding that what was needed was a reorientation.
He said, “With the mindset of the people in the sector, it is not possible for now, we need reorientation because the average player in the industry is looking at how to interface and he is making his money. He is not even looking at the revenue generation to the federal government. It is always a dual interest that people try to maintain when you are trying to raise revenue for the federal government what is entering into your own pocket”.
For automation to be effective in the ports, Uche called for the intervention of the federal government, insisting that with will political power no individual will frustrate government programmes because self serving interest.
He also recalled how Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) can be effective in facilitating trade at the ports.
“ So government needs to intervene in finding out areas where there are disturbances on having an effective automation and make corrections. We started this in 2006 after the port concessioning when the system was so transparent and coupled with the fact that CTN was working . Every information pertaining to the cargo is available with CTN. Then if you had issue, Customs will say go and bring your CTN which will contain every information that helped to resolve so many problems. But at a stage, the whole process was thwarted, people were no more getting what they were targeting for their individual pockets.
“Yes, corruption is a big threat to automation. But it still takes the will power of the government to get things done better, because no individual is higher than the government. If we want to perfect the system because all these things are working in other climes, why should it not work here, are we animals?.Are we not reading what other countries are doing perfecting their system. What is that interest anyone wants to secure that government will put a particular system in place and people will go and thwart it and don’t want it to work because your interest is not covered. If you go to ports of Anthwerp and all that, they are not talking of scanners any more. In places like Rotterdam port, the level they are now is Radio Frequency Identification Device (DFID). That is what is being used where it is fired on container . There you don’t need to go for scanning any more they have advanced to some other levels. Here (Nigeria) we are talking of functional scanners which are not even working, so government can do something and make automation work despite the mindset of some players in the system”.
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