THE Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) has revealed that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) is not adding any value to shipping, but rather increasing the bottlenecks surrounding importation at Nigerian ports.
Speaking exclusively with the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos, President of SALS, Reverend Jonathan Nicol, lamented that with the planned introduction of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) otherwise referred to as ECTN (Electronic Cargo Tracking Note), agencies like the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will no longer be needed at the ports.
According to Rev. Nicol, “We are not gaining anything from the SONCAP certificate. It has no value to shipping. Rather, the SONCAP has become a bottleneck to shipping because without it, you cannot even open a Form M. Where is this done in the world?
“In the United Kingdom, if I want to import, I will just walk into any bank and request for a Form M, and they will give you the form to fill and allocate foreign exchange to you if you have the money to pay.
“SON should be more concerned with goods manufactured in Nigeria. SON was there when out textile industries collapsed. The agency was there when our tyre industry collapsed. For the few remaining factories that are still struggling to exist, SON is giving them so many problems. Some can’t even raise Form M, while some are being slammed over N360,000 penalty for not raising SONCAP. Is this how to grow our manufacturing industries?
“Even when the goods have been cleared to the warehouse, they are not still safe from SON harassment. So, if the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) will show everybody the quality, types and number of goods, then who needs SONCAP? Anybody that is clamoring for the return of SON to the ports, such person is sabotaging the interest of the shippers.
“For every Bill of Lading, we pay N3000 for every 20ft container and N5000 for every 40ft container. Multiply that by the numbers of containers that passes through the port, that will tell you what SON is gaining for every SONCAP certificate. The SONCAP certificate has no value for shipping. Shippers are fed up.
“The introduction of the CTN will clean up the whole system. With CTN, freight forwarders will have to buckle up when it comes to declaration of cargo.”
When asked about importation of substandard products, the SALS President explained that, “Yes, we have this informal sector involved in importation of substandard products from China. SON should stop those goods from coming into Nigeria right there in China. SON should stop waiting for those goods to arrive before stopping them. For not being able to stop the substandard goods from leaving China for Nigeria is an indictment on SON.
“Nobody needs SON at the ports. They were there before and ended up messing up imports with the samples that they kept collecting.”
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