Customs agents to continue with strike despite CG’s plea

Clearing agents under the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) has said that despite lengthy meetings with the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Alli (Rtd), the plan to shut down the ports over arbitrary charges via industrial action will go on as scheduled.

It would be recalled that the Comptroller General of Customs, while on a visit to the leadership of ANLCA, had appealed that the association suspend its plan to embark on strike action over arbitrary charges at the ports.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, National President of ANLCA, Olayiwola Shittu explained that since Customs is not the only problem confronting agents at the ports as regards arbitrary charges, the plan to embark on strike by will go on.

According to Shittu, “Yes, the Customs CG appealed to us not to go on strike action, but Customs is not the only problem we have at the ports.

“We are ye to arrive at a decision on the appeal of the Customs CG. But since Customs is not our only problem, our decision to embark on strike after the expiration of a 21 days ultimatum still stands.”

It would be recalled that on March 17, 2017, ANLCA had issued a 21-days ultimatum to the general public that its members would be withdrawing their services if arbitrary charges being collected by shipping companies’ agents, the Nigerian Police Force and some other government agencies in the ports are not stopped.

A statement signed by ANLCA’s National Publicity Secretary, Kayode Farinto, explained that the association gave the ultimatum after a national executive committee meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday.

According to the statement, “ANLCA having met for two days, through March 15 and 16, 2017, has articulated the problems militating against cargo clearance from Nigerian ports as follows:

“That the Nigeria Customs Service as the prime statutory agency at the ports engages in a practice that is tantamount to approbating and reprobating. The Nigeria customs service issues the Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports (PAAR),undertakes the assessment and subsequently release of cargoes from the ports with multiplicity of units in the clearance chain which are unnecessarily encumbered by incessant alerts and arbitrary jack up of customs duties which is not in compliance with the international valuation principles (Which is General Agreement on Tariff and Trade-Article V11, GATT) as domesticated into valuation Acts and then constitute units that intercept the same duly exited cargoes within 500 meters radius of the ports.

“That where underpayments of customs duty are alleged, the Customs unilaterally blocks (suspends) the Customs agents’ licences which is not in tandem with section 154 of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA).

“That the Federal Government through the Nigerian Ports Authority’s insistence on collecting dollars from Terminal operators on (a) Throughput fees, (b) Guaranteed minimum tonnage (c) Lease Agreement (Dollarisation of payment) has compelled the seaport terminal operators to engage in arbitrary increase of terminal charges since they collect their charges in naira, jettisoning the proviso in the concession agreement which states that stakeholders must be consulted before such increases are made.

“That shipping agencies who are ordinarily the local representatives of the shipping lines also engage in arbitrary increase and introduction of multiple charges outside the approval by the Nigerian Shippers council.

“That the Nigeria Police Force has abandoned their statutory role of providing security at the ports to engage in stoppage of cargo delivery at shipping companies and terminals under the guise of conducting investigation”.