Shippers’ Council Boss Appeals to Striking Customs Agents to End Strike at Tin Can Port
CUSTOMS AGENTS PROTEST
By Our Correspondent
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Emmanuel Jime, on Friday appealed to the striking customs agents to embrace dialogue and to return to duty.
The customs agents who are members of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) have been protesting against Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation Policy introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service.
The protesting agents said the new policy has led to importers paying as much as N1million duty on one car as against about N200,000 that was the case before.
But at a meeting with the freight forwarders, Jime said remaining on strike indefinitely was not the best because of the far-reaching implications on the nation’s economy.
According to him, suspending the strike would create a more conducive atmosphere to engage the Customs Service management on the matter.
However, the freight forwarders condemned the attitude of the Customs management on the issue since the protest started.
The agents said no effort has been made by the Customs Service to address the issues being raised.
The agents said no member of the management of the customs has come out in the past five days to show concern on the increase on the customs duty on vehicles.
Members of NAGAFF had on Thursday pulled out of the strike, leaving only members of ANLCA who are insisting on the industrial action.
NAGAFF while backing out of the strike however sent a petition to the operators of Webb Fontaine complaining bitterly about “incessant network failure and inefficiency”.
According to NAGAFF, this has led to losses of revenue by freight forwarders and the federal government.
The protest by the agents which started on February 21 has paralysed activities at the Tin Can Island port.
The National Coordinator, 100 Per Cent Compliance Team, NAGAFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko who noted that the e-valuation by the Customs Service has come to stay added however that it was important to know how the Customs generated the current high value on vehicles was generated.
On why NAGAFF would not want to be part of the strike, he said the already some hoodlums from Ajegunle and Mushin were planning to join freight forwarders in the protest at the Tin Can ports.
He had while addressing newsmen on Wednesday said, “Our eyes and ears are on the ground and we need to protect our people. We had strong information yesterday night about Mushin and Ajegunle boys coming to hijack the protest. The Police and Navy have been alerted and that is why we have to withdraw from the ongoing protest.We can remember what happened to ENDSARS where some people hijacked the peaceful protest and at the end we lost some lives.
This time around we have confirmed that people from Ajegunle and Mushin are already participating in the protest”.
the National Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Mr Timi Bomodi in a statement earlier appealed to the customs agents to accept the new VIN regime.
Bomodi claimed the new VIN uses “artificial intelligence:” to make the system transparent.
According to him, the artificial intelligence assembles trade data which represent a range of values that are consistent for each car make and model using VIN.
He explained in the statement, “It is totally devoid of human inputs by NCS officers and enables easy and fast assessments necessary to process duty payments.
“Indeed, time-motion studies confirm a maximum of six hours between automated assessments and release of cars using VIN valuation.
“Following the demands of agents for a simplified system which recognises standard values, NCS is confident that this innovation in clearing process will satisfy the desires of agents clamouring for change.
“The resistance to VIN valuation comes as a surprise seeing that it is deliberately designed to meet their demands. It also compels us to investigate further, the intentions of those protesting its use.
“When our valuation officers gave out ex-factory prices for duty assessment, they were accused of collecting monetary inducements to give lower values. It will be interesting to know what these same agents/importers will accuse the machines of discrimination based on non-digital considerations”.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Emmanuel Jime, on Friday appealed to the striking customs agents to embrace dialogue and to return to duty.
The customs agents who are members of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) have been protesting against Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Valuation Policy introduced by the Nigeria Customs Service.
The protesting agents said the new policy has led to importers paying as much as N1million duty on one car as against about N200,000 that was the case before.
But at a meeting with the freight forwarders, Jime said remaining on strike indefinitely was not the best because of the far-reaching implications on the nation’s economy.
According to him, suspending the strike would create a more conducive atmosphere to engage the Customs Service management on the matter.
However, the freight forwarders condemned the attitude of the Customs management on the issue since the protest started.
The agents said no effort has been made by the Customs Service to address the issues being raised.
The agents said no member of the management of the customs has come out in the past five days to show concern on the increase on the customs duty on vehicles.
Members of NAGAFF had on Thursday pulled out of the strike, leaving only members of ANLCA who are insisting on the industrial action.
NAGAFF while backing out of the strike however sent a petition to the operators of Webb Fontaine complaining bitterly about “incessant network failure and inefficiency”.
According to NAGAFF, this has led to losses of revenue by freight forwarders and the federal government.
The protest by the agents which started on February 21 has paralysed activities at the Tin Can Island port.
The National Coordinator, 100 Per Cent Compliance Team, NAGAFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko who noted that the e-valuation by the Customs Service has come to stay added however that it was important to know how the Customs generated the current high value on vehicles was generated.
On why NAGAFF would not want to be part of the strike, he said the already some hoodlums from Ajegunle and Mushin were planning to join freight forwarders in the protest at the Tin Can ports.
He had while addressing newsmen on Wednesday said, “Our eyes and ears are on the ground and we need to protect our people. We had strong information yesterday night about Mushin and Ajegunle boys coming to hijack the protest. The Police and Navy have been alerted and that is why we have to withdraw from the ongoing protest.We can remember what happened to ENDSARS where some people hijacked the peaceful protest and at the end we lost some lives.
This time around we have confirmed that people from Ajegunle and Mushin are already participating in the protest”.
the National Public Relations Officer of the Customs, Mr Timi Bomodi in a statement earlier appealed to the customs agents to accept the new VIN regime.
Bomodi claimed the new VIN uses “artificial intelligence:” to make the system transparent.
According to him, the artificial intelligence assembles trade data which represent a range of values that are consistent for each car make and model using VIN.
He explained in the statement, “It is totally devoid of human inputs by NCS officers and enables easy and fast assessments necessary to process duty payments.
“Indeed, time-motion studies confirm a maximum of six hours between automated assessments and release of cars using VIN valuation.
“Following the demands of agents for a simplified system which recognises standard values, NCS is confident that this innovation in clearing process will satisfy the desires of agents clamouring for change.
“The resistance to VIN valuation comes as a surprise seeing that it is deliberately designed to meet their demands. It also compels us to investigate further, the intentions of those protesting its use.
“When our valuation officers gave out ex-factory prices for duty assessment, they were accused of collecting monetary inducements to give lower values. It will be interesting to know what these same agents/importers will accuse the machines of discrimination based on non-digital considerations”.
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