Cargo examination: Regulators, operators blame corrupt importers

Regulatory agents and terminal operators have blamed corrupt practices by importers for their presence and high level of physical examination of cargo at the nation’s seaports. Multiple agencies and physical cargo examinations waste time and are reportedly responsible for the high cost of doing business in Nigeria. Some importers, according to the regulators and operators, are dubious and this makes Customs officials to suspect any cargo they bring into the country. The spokesperson for the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, in an interview with our correspondent said, “One of the challenges we have at the ports right now is high level of physical examination of cargo where containers are opened and cargo examined one after the other by the Customs. “They are doing this because Nigerian importers are dishonest. They short-change the system by importing without making proper declaration and importing what they should not import.  “They are not helping government to realise its fiscal objective and because of that, the Nigeria Customs Service has become very suspicious and wants to check everything thoroughly.” The Director, Ports Inspection Directorate, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mrs. Maureen Ebigbeyi, corroborated Akinola’s observations while explaining the presence of NAFDAC at the ports during a recent maritime stakeholders’ forum. She said that in the process of inspecting containers carrying regulated products at the ports, agents had stumbled on false declaration and forged documents by importers. She said, “The level of false declaration that we see at the ports is amazing. At one time, 13 containers carrying wrong strength and dosage of drugs arrived in Port Harcourt under the guise of clothing materials.  “I have seen manifest from the Nigerian. Source: Punch