By Steve Agbota, [email protected]

As cost of Nigeria’s maritime sector continues to rise expensive among its West Afria peers and across the world, some industry experts have called for a reduction in a series of port charges and levies imposed on port operators.

At different occasions, stakeholders have called on government to cut some of the charges in order to boost ease of doing business and to reduce cost of shipping and transportation of goods across the nation’s seaports and land borders.

The call came against the backdrop of last year’s approval by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, for the controversial collection of Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) at the ports.

Under the POF regime, importers would pay N3.5 per tone of cargo imported into the country, N1.5 per kilo for air cargo, N1, 000 on each imported 20-feet container and N2, 000 per 40-feet container.

However, regulator of freight forwarding profession, the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has since began the enforcement of the collection of the POF levied on imported goods by directing shipping and terminal operators to reject any freight forwarders or customs agents bringing any cargo delivery paper without showing proof of the POF payment.

Since July last year’s the Minister’s pronouncement has continued to stoke fires of discord among freight forwarders and clearing agents who kicked against move by the CRFFN to use facilities of shipping companies and terminal operators to collect the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) at the ports.

The aggrieved freight forwarders had argued that the collection would increase the cost of doing business initiative of the Federal Government across ports and land borders in the country. The collection of POF would also reflect in the price of consumable goods in the country.

Daily Sun learnt that under the POF regime, the CRFFN is targeting between N5 billion to N10 billion annually from the collection of the POF, now under threat as one of the Customs licensed agents associations:

Amid the controversy, the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), has taken the Council to court seeking restraining order to stop the collection of the fee.

A reliable maritime source who spoke with Daily Sun on the condition of anomnity, said POF is an illegal collection without legal backing and not even in CRFFN’s law, as it is not tied to any service binding its collection.

According to the source, the collection of POF does not render any service and it contravenes the Federal Government’s ease of doing business at the ports.

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“The POF is making Nigeria look so foolish.

What is POF?  Under what law is it operated? What services does the POF render? Under the CRFFN, it is for collection of freight forwarders who are not Customs Licensed Agents.

“Customs agents are people who arrange the carriage of movement of goods. The only collection CRFFN can do is freight forwarders who are registered with the Council, as Customs agents are not freight forwarders and CRFFN do not have right to collect POF on import and export,” he added.

Meanwhile, a registered freight forwarder and former member of CRFFN’s Freight Forwarders Consultative Forum, Chidi Anthony Opara,  in his “short open memo to freight forwarders,” revealed that attempts are being made to change the nomenclature of the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF), to Ports Operating Fee (POF) to enable the proponents of POF collect levy on imports and exports.

For the umpteenth time, Opara said the POF was conceptualised as a fee to be paid by the practitioners to enable them operate.

“Because of the desperation to levy imports and exports, which do not belong to freight forwarding practitioners, and the need to justify the illegal unconventional exercise, the nomenclature is being subtly changed.

“Even if the nomenclature is successfully changed from Practitioners Operating fee (POF) to Ports Operating Fee (POF), the levy on imports and exports should still not be paid by freight forwarders (they are not direct ports users) and should not be collected by the CRFFN or its agents (CRFFN have nothing to do directly with the owners of the imports and exports),” he said.

Also speaking on the matter recently, the National Coordinator Save Nigeria Frieght Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalitions (SNFFIEC) Chief Osita Chukwu, who condemned the collection of the POF, said the collection at a time the nation is still battling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will compound negative impact on the port operators.

“Government has established CRFFN to rip off freight forwarders and the general public. How could you check the tenacity of the government and people instead of putting heads together to manage the era of COVID-19, now they are trying to invoke some certain principles that will undermine citizens welfare,” he said. “Government has established CRFFN to rip off freight forwarders and the public. How could you check the tenacity of the Government and people instead of putting heads together to manage the era of COVID-19, now they are trying to invoke some certain principles that will undermine citizens welfare,” he said. He said if the government failed to address the issue it will leave them with no choice than to seek redress at the court of law while alleging that government established CRFFN to rip off freight forwarders and the public.

He said the collection was not in line with the Ease of Doing Business at the ports, saying that all other countries in the world are trying to cut cost especially this period of COVID-19 while Government is imposing additional cost on the citizens.

“In the whole West Africa, Nigeria is the costliest place to clear cargoes and you are trying to add another salt into injury. Collection of POF is not the way to go. We make money for government and let them pay us the money we make to run the Council.