By Tola Adenubi | Lagos
THE Apapa Customs Command of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has revealed why some cargoes still falls under 100 percent physical examination despite the deployment of scanners at the ports.
Recall that the Apapa and Tin-Can Customs towards the tail end of 2022 began the use of scanners for cargo examination at the ports.
However, checks by the Nigerian Tribune revealed that despite the launch of the scanners at Nigeria’s two busiest ports of Apapa and Tin-Can, some cargoes still undergo 100 percent physical examination at these ports, thereby slowing down the cargo clearance chain at the ports.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the development, the Spokesman of the Apapa Customs Command, Abubakar Usman explained that some cargoes like pharmaceutical products cannot undergo scanning due to limitations of the scanners, thereby forcing the Service to still inspect such cargoes manually.
According to the Apapa Customs Command Spokesman, “Currently, the scanners deployed at the ports cannot examine pharmaceutical products.
“The scanners cannot tell us if a pharmaceutical product is a malaria drug or an antibiotic or a pain reliever. The scanners cannot say if a drug has expired or even tell us when it will expire.
“The scanners cannot tell us if a pharmaceutical drug is approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) or not. This is why when such cargoes come into the ports, we move them for 100 percent physical examination.
“We are expecting more scanners, and hopefully when more scanners arrive, we will be able to reduce the number of cargoes examined manually. But as of today, pharmaceutical cargoes that arrive the ports goes under manual examination.”
Speaking on the capacity of the scanner, Usman added that aside pharmaceutical cargoes, the scanners are doing very well.
“Aside pharmaceutical cargoes, the scanner is working perfectly well at the ports and on a daily basis, we scan around 100 and 150 containers depending on the numbers of containers positioned for examination by the Terminal operators,” the Apapa Customs Spokesman added.
Recall that the Federal Government through the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed in November 2022 commissioned three mobile cargo scanners to checkmate arms and ammunition and other prohibited items coming into the country through the ports.
During the commissioning, the Minister implored the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), port terminal operators and all stakeholders in the port to cooperate with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to take full advantage of the scanners.
