Matthew Otoijagha
Stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime sector have expressed shock and concern over the way and manner foreign shipping companies introduce new charges on Nigerian bound cargoes. This is even as they lamented the current state of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), labeling the agency ‘helpless’ in the face of arbitrary charges.
It would be recalled that two shipping companies, CMA-CGM and Hapag Lloyd recently issued electronic statements, announcing the increment in their freight rate with the introduction of what they called ‘Peak Season Surcharge’ (PSS) on all cargoes originating from anywhere in the world to Tin-Can, Apapa ports in Lagos and Onne port in Rivers State
Speaking exclusively on the issue, former National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agent (ANLCA), Olayiwola Shittu stated that before any shipping company can jerk up freight rates, the law says there should be a stakeholders meeting.
According to Olayiwola Shittu, “Because many of these shipping companies have affiliations politically, that is why they do here what they cannot do in their country. Many of these shipping companies have highly placed Nigerians as their promoters. That is why we say the government itself is the enabler of the problems in the ports.
“In saner climes, you cannot just increase charges by fiat and get away with it. It’s not done. But what can the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) do? Mr. President has not signed the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill which would have assisted with all the necessary penalties and sanctions.
“If the NSC decides to close down a shipping company over increase in charges, somebody from the top will just call the Executive Secretary of the agency to remind him that he cannot go to that extent. That is what is happening in the ports. It is sad when we have a government agency that cannot enforce its powers. It’s pathetic.”
Also speaking exclusively, a Business/Investment Consultant, Dr. Vincent Nwani explained that due to multiplicity of regulators in the ports, some operators don’t see the NSC as the port economic regulator.
In his words, “Late last year, we had a meeting with some operators in the ports, which included terminal operators, shipping companies, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), NSC, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and other government agencies. From that meeting, it was very clear that some of the operators don’t still see the Shippers Council as the economic regulator.
“When the question on ‘who regulates who’ came up, we were hearing answers like NPA, BPE etc, none mentioned the Nigerian Shippers Council. It is when you have multiplicity of regulators in a sector that this kind of confusion sets in. We ended that meeting without concluding on who actually regulates who at the ports.
“Any form of increment at the ports is detrimental to the Federal Government policy on Ease of Doing Business. Nigerian ports are arguably the most expensive in West Africa. Something needs to be done to address this incessant increase in freight rates by the foreign shipping firms because 65percent of what we consume in Nigeria are imported.”
The PSS surcharge announced by both Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM via electronic mails recently indicated that a 20-foot and 40-foot Nigeria bound container from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau , USA and U.S. territories would pay $700 each from March 15, 2019; and those coming from other parts of the world would pay €610 on each consignment.