Isaac Anumihe
Following the preponderance of arms smuggling into the country, the Federal Government, in May, last year, directed all containerised cargoes coming into Nigeria to be in pallets.
Speaking during a sensitisation workshop on revised import and export guidelines organised by the Ministry of Finance in Lagos, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said the new measure would aid manual examination of consignment while the country awaits the acquisition and installation of functional scanners at the seaports and land borders.
Adeosun asked all stakeholders directly involved in the export and import trade value chains to become acquainted with export and import guidelines to avoid sanction.
“Furthermore, in order to ensure quick clearance of import at the Nigerian ports and borders, the additional responsibilities assigned to the relevant government agencies would be carried out in a well-coordinated and collaborated manner, while the sanctions specified for non-compliance with the provisions of the guidelines would be strictly and impartially applied across board.”she said.
The minister, who was represented by the Ministry’s Director of Home Finance, Olubunmi Siyanbola, regretted government’s failed attempts to install scanning machines, saying government is working relentlessly to quickly put in order, the scanning system so as to eliminate manual examination of goods and the associated delays.
“I wish to announce that the export and import guidelines will be fully implemented with effect from January 1, 2018. However, goods already loaded for shipment to Nigeria prior to this date will not be affected by the palletisation policy.
“Let me also say that we have examined all concerns expressed by the trading public regarding the palletisation policy of the government. The list of cargoes of goods that may be exempted from palletisation, where it is absolutely necessary, will be placed on the website of the Federal Ministry of Finance and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)” she added.
Recall that pallets are plane (flat) structures utilised in cargo container ships for supporting goods or containers. The process of piling cargo consignments atop these structures is referred to as palletisation . The cargo placed on pallet is secured with straps and wraps in order to stabilise and prevent any unwanted movement.
Palletising is regarded to be a sure-safe way of dispatching marine cargo consignments, just as palletised cargo ships are held in high regard in the shipping sector across the world. The process helps in easy handling and storage of goods on ships.
But stakeholders have kicked against the policy saying that not only will it create jobs for the country of origin it will create exgra costs to cargoes.
They argue that the cost of a pallet is $1000 and this will be borne by the end-users when the goods finally arrive Nigeria.
The co-ordinator, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Dr Patrick Chukwu, who fielded questions to Daily Sun, said beside creating jobs for foreign countries, the policy will bring in different types of pests into the country and Nigeria is not well-equipped to contend with such problems. Already, Nigerians, he said, have contended with various diseases in the past, such as ebola, monkey pox and all manner of strange illnesses which are alien to this country before now.
The co-ordinator maintained that such a policy should be discretional to importers who import china goods and other fragile materials and not the importers of solid materials.
“How can a car importer palletise his car or engine?” he asked. He disclosed that pallets take a lot of space in the ship and have their own weight. This will make the ship contain less cargoes than it is supposed to carry, a situation that will cause the importer to pay more for less amount of goods.
According to him, the policy is anti-people and should be resisted by the stakeholders and all well-meaning individuals.
For the personal assistant to the president of Association of Customs Licensed Agents (ANLCA), Mr Pius Ujubionu the policy has its merits and demerits.
According to him, in a unified cargo, palletisation is good because it will help to assess and get the quantity at once. But for non-unified cargoes it will reduce the space and volume of cargo and so create extra cost.
“Palletisation has its advantages and disadvantages. Palletisation is good in a unified cargo because it will help to regulate and assess the quantity of cargoes once. But for non-unified cargoes it will reduce space and volume and create extra cost. The main reason is to identify arms and to have easy access to what is in the container. I am not sure palletisation affects general cargoes. It is a good policy” he submitted.
But for the Director General of ANLCA, Mr Joel Nwosu, the merits are not foreseeable. “How do you palletise cement?” he asked. He pointedly asked the government to jettisoned the idea because it is not going to work.
“Our own thinking is that the policy is not good and it should be jettisoned. In all sincerity, it will not work. How are you going to palletise wet cargo? The Ministry of Finance said all cargoes should be palletised. It is not going to work” he said with a note of finality.
However, the International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA) posited that the policy will encourage corruption.
Speaking with Daily Sun, the president of the association, Dr Sam Onyemelukwe, said that the policy will make the officials of Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) to be relevant and they will capitalise on the policy to institute corruption in the system.
“It is a policy that will encourage corruption. Before now, the NAQS did not fumigate woods that were imported or exported. They merely collect money and allowed all manner of woods to come into the country. The policy will make them relevant and that is why they will become corrupt. Besides, the quantity of cargo will reduce. That will invariably add to cost. This is not in good faith. The issue of security is not tenable. There are some ways you can combat security,” he said.
said.