LAGOS – Some stakeholders in the maritime industry on Thursday urged the Federal Government to review the existing policies in the sector, in order to achieve the 48-hour cargo clearance time-frame.Speaking at an Interactive Forum in Lagos, the stakeholders said unfavourable policies, inadequate infrastructure and corruption were affecting operations at the ports.
A freight forwarder, Mr Michael Ivenso, said government’s policies and the physical inspection of goods at the ports, were among the problems depleting government’s revenue and delaying cargo clearance.
Ivenso said that the bad road network had also become a challenge that must be looked into, if the 48-hour cargo clearance would be achieved in the country.
A manufacturer, Mr John Aluya, said that different government agencies gave different interpretations to government laws, adding that this had led to high cost of clearing goods as importers were made to duplicate payments.
Aluya, therefore, urged government agencies to allow trade facilitation to be the driver in business operations at the ports.
“The more we have trade facilitation, the more revenue we generate for the country,’’ he said.
The manufacturer said that over 2,000 cargoes belonging to the Nigerian manufacturers were trapped at the ports due to problems created by some government agents.
He said that this was not good, because the cargoes would attract demurrage.
Aluya advised the government to address the problem of infrastructure for easy clearance of cargoes at the ports.
Mrs Julie Ogboru of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the introduction of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) had raised the cost of insurance and increased the time used in the clearance of goods.
Ogboru said that the hurdles encountered in positioning containers had also contributed to the delay.
She appealed to importers and customs agents to make genuine declarations of the contents of their containers, in order to save time. (NAN)
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