Bureaucracy: Shippers Council Directs ICNL To Pay Exporter 70% Cargo Damage Liability Cost

The Nigerian Shipper’s Council has resolved a complaint of two damaged export containers of Black Eye Beans destined for Jebel Ali port, Dubai, United Arab Emirate, shipped from Kaduna Inland Dry port ( KIDP) by USBAB MULTI CHOICE LTD( Exporter) who attributed the damage to the delay allegedly caused by Inland container Nigeria Limited, ICNL (Forwarding Agent) and MAERSK Nigeria Limited ( Carrier).

In a complaint letter received by the Council’s port Office, Kaduna, the Managing Director of USBAB MULTI CHOICE LTD, Mr. Usman Baba Ahmad stated that two export containers of Cowpea Black Eye Beans were damaged.

The consignment valued at $104,111.75 USD, with the total terminal and documentation cost put at  N1,653,205.88.

The exporter alleged delay by ICNL and MAERSK as being responsible for the damage and requested the Council’s intervention for refund of the loss. USBAB added that “If the cargo was shipped on schedule, having paid all necessary charges to ICNL from the beginning of the transaction, the damage would have been avoided”.

They further gave a breakdown of what transpired from when the cargo was forwarded to ICNL to when it was eventually shipped out of Nigeria.

The complainant also denied receiving any notification from either Federal Produce Inspection Services(FPIS) or ICNL on recommendation that fumigation should be repeated after expiration of 21 days as contained on the certificate of Quality, Fumigation, Good Packaging Materials and weight.

They further presented additional claims received from the Importer in Dubai and other documents. The complainant requested the assistance of the NSC in recovering all funds spent on the beans and the export processes.

The NSC held tripartite meetings at the Kaduna Port Office where all relevant parties; USBAB MULTI CHOICE LTD
( Complainant) , Kaduna Inland Dry Port/ ICNL ( Forwarder) , FPIS, Anglia International services Ltd ( Pre- shipment Agent) and Shippers’ Council’s Complaints Team from the head office were in attendance to amicably resolved the lingering complaint.

The chairman of the meeting and Deputy Director, Kaduna Port Office, Mr. Paul Garnva welcomed all parties to the meeting and informed that Kaduna Port Office regulates the Dry Port and protects shippers in terms of cost, effective and efficient service delivery.

He noted that since the commencement of operations, over sixteen (16,000 TEU’s) import containers have been cleared, while over fifty ( 50 TEU’s) export containers were handled. He added that the essence of the meeting was to dialogue with a view to arriving at fair and amicable resolution.

The head of complaints Unit, Mr. Daniel Orume, a Deputy Director, accompanied by an Assistant Director, (complaints), Mr. Danjuma Buba and Mr. Hassan Aminu ( a principal operations officer), however stated that this intervention is crucial, being the first to be held at Kaduna Port Office.

He said in line with NSC ‘s Port Economic Regulation Order, 2015, the complaints unit is saddled with the responsibility to find solutions to issues relating to disputes between providers and consumers of shipping services in the industry. He stressed that, for the council to carry out investigation and reach necessary resolutions, it relied on documents presented by all parties.

He pointed out that from the Nigerian Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the containers were put on hold for almost one month.

On ICNL’s counter submission that they were informed late by MAERSK Nigeria, the council sought empirical evidence to authenticate when both MAERSK and NDLEA informed the Terminal as well as when they engaged NDLEA for the release of the containers.

The Council further sought clarification from FPIS, statutorily responsible for issuance of certificate of Quality, Fumigation, Good Packaging Materials and Weight, and explanation on which of the agencies in the export clearance chain is in charge of moisture owing to the fact that the space for moisture content of commodity on the certificate was blank.

The Council also raised issues such as; delay in trying to correct the Bill of Lading of the damaged cargo; sought to know from the pre-shipment Agent, the type of container most suitable for export of agricultural produce; and who is to advise on packaging of all export cargoes.

Responding, the representatives of Anglia International Services Ltd, the pre- shipment Agent, Messrs. Bodam Sammy and Hyacinth Louis C. informed the meeting that ‘They received the beans and inspected in line with their mandate.

They listed some of their responsibilities to include; ensuring that documentation and goods declared by the exporter has no disparity, ensure that Nigeria Export Supervision Scheme ( NESS) fee is in conformity with the goods declared, proper documentation and submission of report of inspection to their head office for issuance of Clean Certificate of Inspection ( CCI) .

Packaging or the choice of the type of bag is based on the specification of the buyer, the exporter must ensure strict adherence to that. Where there is discrepancy CCI would not be issued and where there is observation by any of the agencies in the export clearance chain,we are supposed to be informed. That, in this case, no agency informed us of any observation. ”

The pre-shipment agent further explained that in this instance, everything was properly done as thorough check was carried out on the bags and the type of beans. In line with the physical examination, ‘ there was nothing wrong with the beans as at the time of inspection “. The Agency stated that they carried out their inspection and issued CCI when all the agencies have completed their processes and their role terminates at that point.

Responding, FPIS represented at the meeting by Mr. Usman Suleiman, stated, he inspected the beans and found it to be well dried without stone,and certified it to be of exportable quality.

He said that he fumigated the two containers and further pointed out that the only thing he observed was that during stuffing, ‘The containers were not properly dressed. ‘

He raised an observation, but the response of ICNL was ”the containers would not stay long ”

He added that if the dressing was to be done, it would not have been possible to move the containers that day to Lagos as desired by the exporters. While on the type of container most suitable for export of Agricultural produce, the representative said any type of container could be used provided it is “clean and free of insects.”

ICNL Kaduna represented by Messrs. Rotimi O. and Salami O. Rasaq informed the meeting that  ”The damage to the beans was unfortunate “. They added that they received the cargo at Kaduna Inland Dry Port and transported it to Apapa Port, Lagos within 15 days.

They also stated that the exporter commended processing of documents such as For. NXP, NESS, etc. After the beans had arrived at KIDP

ICNL also explained that during stuffing, the FPIS officials drew their attention to the ” need to dress the containers with dry papers and bags,but the representative of the exporter (Ahmed) insisted the stuffing should continue.” They added that the trucks conveying the goods left Kaduna for Lagos, but on arrival, it could not access the port immediately due to MAERSK policy which only allows truck access in to the port on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, which hindered timely gate- in to the terminal “.

They further mentioned how NDLEA ” put on hold” to a great extent, contributed to the delay because neither MAERSK nor NDLEA informed them on time. This according to them accounts for the reason why they missed two vessels that the cargo previously scheduled.

After careful assessment of all the documents submitted during the previous tripartite meetings, the legal advice received from the Council’s Directorate of Legal services as well as review of the role both parties played in the transaction, the Council resolved that Liability sharing formula should be 70% for Kaduna Inland Dry Port ( ICNL ) being the appointed terminal operator and forwarder with the responsibility to ensure that the cargo is transported and delivered in safe and good condition, while 30% is for the exporter (USBAB MULTI CHOICE LTD) for failure to heed experts advice on how to properly preserve the beans and prevent it from damage.

The parties were however grateful for the Council intervention, but ICNL requested the Council to review the liability sharing formula.