Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Onne Command has commended the 10-point agenda of NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, even as the Compliance team pledged to support and synergise with the relevant government agencies in the maritime Industry.
The Team which travelled to River State in continuation of its nationwide Sensitization tour, visited Customs Onne Seaport and Area 1 Commands intimating the officers of their 10-point Agenda and their efforts to educate their members on total compliance with extant rules and regulations on International trade.
Welcoming the visitors to his Command, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller A.B Mohammed who expressed profound joy with the visit and the content of their 10-point agenda remarked that articles 1-5 of the Agenda conform to the mantra of clearance procedure at the port.
”Since my assumption of office here as Area Controller, we have tried to maintain and improve on the structure of clearing procedures here at Onne port and from what I can see, articles 1-5 of your 10-point Agenda are as if we have met before this came up”.
Comptroller Mohammed who described National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) members as refined, reformed, educated, enlightened and the first Association in the maritime sector to agitate the autonomy of the Nigeria Customs Service, pledged the support of his Command to the realisation of the 10-point agenda of the 100% Compliance Team ably led by Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko.
He pointed out that proper declaration of imports is their watchword and called on Freight Forwarders to advice their importers to disclose to them the actual content in the container to avoid delay and seizure.
On the article 7 of the 10-point Agenda which says ‘To protect the interest of Freight Forwarders in Disputes’ he said, ”that statement is sensitive because an adverb is missing there. When you people protect the interest of the freight forwarder, it must be in line with the legitimate procedure. Once the freight forwarder had done the right thing and then we are delaying him or giving him an unnecessary DN, yes you can protect him, but whereas maybe by virtue of his cargo, the DN is high and you come to say no, this is too high, you have to lower the DN, that protection will not be accommodated. But once it is within the limit of the extant laws, we will do our best”.
The Onne Port Customs Area Controller, however, assured the NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team of their maximum support while appealing to the Executives not to approach him for cancellation of DN without strong reason.
Speaking earlier, the National Coordinator of NAGAFF 100% Compliance Team, Alhaji Ibrahim Tanko said the team was not only established to assist Customs to achieve its revenue generation, but to educate freight forwarders on the need to play by the rules and to impress on importers to make honest declarations, ensure 100% examinations of cargoes as well.
According to him, almost every seizure made by Customs in the port is attributed to the wrongdoing of the freight forwarders resulting to the attendant loss of revenue.
At the Area 1 of Customs Command, the 100% Compliance Team informed the Area Comptroller, Yusuf Garuba of the Team’s effort at enlightening the Freight Forwarders of the need to comply with the rules and to make honest declarations which will in turn increase the revenue of government.
The National Coordinator of the Compliance Team, Tanko therefore appealed to Customs see them as partners in progress by giving them maximum support in order to realise their 10-point agenda to the benefit of all and the Industry at large.
The CAC, Area 1, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Comptroller Yusuf Garuba expressed happiness with the establishment of the body which will help them achieve more revenue to the federal government and pledged the Commands unflinching support to them.
