The House of Representatives Committee on Shipping Services and Related Matters recently concluded a Public Hearing on the repeal of the Nigerian Shippers Council Act which pushed the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill for third reading. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI looks at why the nations maritime industry is due for economic regulation. Excerpts
Ten years ago, precisely in February 2014, the Federal Government announced the appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) as the Port Economic Regulator for the maritime industry, bringing to rest questions of who answers to arbitrary increment in charges and other forms of impunity at the nations ports.
The announcement, despite coming after a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, was met with strong resistance by shipping companies and other port stakeholders due to an absence of a legal framework backing it up.
Without an enabling law that backs up its new status, the NSC struggled to enforce regulatory compliance among the many foreign shipping companies and the nation’s terminal operators, with many of them dragging the agency to court when confronted headlong over issues that infringed on economic rights of port users.
ARBITRARY CHARGES
As the Honourable Abdussamad Dasuki-led House Committee on Shipping Services and Related Matters moved to the next stage towards the actualization of the missing enabling law, port users are upbeat that the era where they are exploited by the various port operators is finally coming to an end.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the sidelines of the Public Hearing, the Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment Research Center, Dr Eugene Nweke explained that the era of impunity at Nigerian ports is drawing close to an end.
According to Eugene Nweke who is also a former National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), “This law is overdue for implementation in the Nigerian maritime industry.
“You need to know the number of charges that port users are levied unnecessarily by operators at the ports to know why we need such law. Cargo owners have been at the mercy of port and shipping operators for years, with many losing billions of Naira to arbitrary charges that ought not be levied against them.
“If your cargoes get delayed inside the port for no fault of yours, you pay extra charges because your cargoes are spending extra days inside the ports. For example, when the Service provider handling Customs server has issues, and the network is down, cargoes spend extra days inside the port because without network, Customs cannot process your consignment.
“The port terminal operator and the shipping company will slam additional charges on your cargoes because your cargoes stayed extra days inside the port even though they know you don’t have powers over when Customs server is up and running.
“Another issue that we still battle over is when there are labour strikes nationwide and the ports are shut down. During such strikes, cargoes spend extra days inside the ports while vessels get delayed for weeks over such issues. After the labour strike is over and the ports are opened, cargo owners are slammed with all sorts of arbitrary charges from the shipping companies and the port terminal operators over the delays caused by the port shut down.
“Most often times, importers end up paying huge sums of money just to clear their cargoes from the ports because there is nobody to fight for them. But now, with the Nigerian Shipping and Port Economic Regulatory Agency Bill nearing fruition, there is hope for importers. There is hope for port users. The era of impunity in broad day light with nobody to cry to looks like it’s coming to an end very soon.”
CONTAINER DEPOSITS
Another issue that has pitched port users against shipping companies is the issue of Container Deposit Fee’s.
The Container Deposit Fee is a refundable fee shipping companies collect from consignees to ensure empty containers are returned safely. The fee is meant to be refunded to the consignee as soon as the empty containers are returned to the shipping company.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the sidelines of the Public Hearing on the repeal of the Shippers Council Act, some clearing agents who attended revealed that many shipping companies don’t refund Container Deposit Fees even when deadline for container return is met.
“Many shipping companies don’t refund container deposit fees when the deadline for return of empty containers are met by the agent. We have had so many instances where agents have nobody to complain to when the shipping companies refuses to refund the fee.
“Many of them don’t return container deposit fees, only few does. We have been at loggerheads with many shipping companies over this issue. We have written letters to errant shipping companies several times on this issue. It is difficult to get container deposit fee from the shipping companies in Nigeria and there won’t be anybody to assist you reclaim your fund.
“Clearing agents are losing at least N40m daily in unrefunded container deposits to shipping companies. We cannot continue this way. Something has to change. It is laudable that this new bill is being pushed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abass.
“The issue over Container Deposits Fee is just one of the many issues that this Bill, when passed into law, will address. Foreigners cannot come to our ports and be dictating to us what amount we will pay even when we didn’t cause any delays.
“We hope this Bill does not suffer the fate that befell similar Bills like the Ports and Harbours Bill that never saw the light of the day. We hope vested interest won’t hijack the process of making the Bill a law?
“We know some people don’t want this Bill to become law, and it’s because they are benefitting from the various impunity that pervades the nations maritime industry. We want to urge the House Committee on Shipping Services and Related Matters to remain dogged and ensure the Bill is passed into law.”
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