The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) has tackled other associations operating in the maritime sector of the economy on the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) 2023.
NAGAFF also gave an insight on why other associations rejected some of the nomenclatures used in the provisions of the Act.
According to it, the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and the National Council of Managing Director Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) were not comfortable with the use of “Customs Representatives” in the Act. One of the reasons is that for any person to be conferred with the honour and privilege of being a customs representative, such a person must be a certified member of a freight forwarding association approved by the Federal Government.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Clement Iwegbuna and made available to Maritime Bits, NAGAFF averred that this simply means that all licensed customs agents associations and their members are not known or recognized by the new customs law, referred to as the NCS Act 2023.
“It is therefore very important to advise the management of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to stop wasting its time challenging the court judgment obtained by the factional leader of NCMDLCA. The jubilation and support of ANLCA over the controversial judgment of the Federal High Court in Lagos in favour of NCMDLCA is indicative of a vendetta against NCS, CRFFN and NAGAFF.
“One begins to wonder whether the NCMDLCA and ANLCA understood the force of the law establishing the NCS Act 2023. It is most unfortunate and regrettable, the level of ignorance among the leadership of these associations”, the statement added.
According to it, as for NAFFAC and AREFFN leadership, we can only but put them in our prayers for God’s intervention to give them the wisdom to differentiate their left from their right, being a freight forwarding association known to the new NCS Act 2023.
It argued that as it stands, it is only NAGAFF members who shall have privilege and honour to be conferred with the attribute “Customs Representatives,” and this is because a Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the relief that customs licensed agents are not freight forwarders.
Continuing, it said: “It is therefore a misnomer for members of ANLCA and NCMDLCA to be conferred with the nomenclature of licensed customs clearing agents while noting that Customs and Excise Management Act of 2004 as amended has ceased to exist. The implication of the Federal High Court judgment is that if you are not a member of NAGAFF and CRFFN, you cannot be referred to as a freight forwarder in Nigeria, and the new Customs Act 2023 cannot transact business with such a person
“It is our hope that the CRFFN management shall immediately move ahead formally to deregister NCMDLCA, ANLCA, AREFFN, and NAFFAC, and replace them with four other young freight forwarders associations who have been seeking membership of CRFFN, and whose members have been paying Port Operating Fees (POF) to enhance Government revenue collection functions. The young freight forwarders and members of ANLCA, AREFFN, NAFFAC, and NCMDLCA are at liberty and free to approach NAGAFF and register themselves at its various offices at the ports and borders if they wish to be conferred with the honor of Customs Representatives and equally become members of CRFFN”.
According to NAGAFF, its release on the matter has sent to the Minister of Transportation, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Minister of Finance and the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Comptroller General of Customs, as well as the Registrar of CRFFN for their information and necessary action.
It expressed hope that the Ministers of Finance and Marine and Blue Economy, shall as a matter of urgency meet under inter-Ministerial Agency cooperation to harmonize the operations of NCS Act 2023 and the CRFFN Act 2007.
“The importance of this harmonization cannot be overemphasized in the interest of Customs modernization, sustainable freight forwarding practice, industrial harmony and revenue collection drive to the Federal Government”, it added.
