‘Banks extorting importers over Form M processing’

A former spokesman of the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wealthy Honey Investment Limited, Dr. Kayode Farinto, has accused commercial banks of extorting importers during processing of Form M for cargo clearance.

This is even as Farinto explained that checks have revealed that less than 20 percent of cargoes that come into Nigerian ports require Form M, a situation that leaves importers at the mercy of the banks during cargo clearance.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the sideline of the 10th Anniversary and Annual Seminar for Maritime Journalists, Farinto, who is also a former acting national president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), called for the scrapping of Form M in cargo clearance processing.

 Farinto queried: “What is the importance of Form M to cargo clearance from the ports?

“I stand to be corrected, except where it is valid for foreign exchange, Form M is not adding any value to cargo clearance from the ports. Instead, it is delaying cargo clearance from the ports.

“Most times, when importers want to open Form M at the commercial banks, the banks will be shifting agents from the HS-Codes of the cargo to be cleared, thereby delaying cargo clearance from the ports. In the process of shifting and dilly-dallying on the correct HS-Code, cargoes remain trapped in the ports while importers get extorted at the banks.

“If it is possible for the Single Window Committee, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Finance to strike out Form M for clearance of cargoes that are not valid for foreign exchange, it will assist in getting cargoes out of the ports much faster.

“We all know that Form M is very important for cargoes that are valid for foreign exchange because it helps in remittances and documentation. But how many of the cargoes at the ports are valid for foreign exchange? It is just less than 20 percent; yet importers are being forced to open Form M for every cargo that comes into the port. This is why the commercial banks are now using Form M as an avenue to extort importers during cargo clearance.”

He called for prosecution and imprisonment of chief executive officers who encourage their workers to delay cargoes and extort importers during cargo clearance from the port.

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