Freight forwarders group cautions FG against move to stop Customs from revenue collection

The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders (APFFLON) has advised the Federal government against move to strip the Nigeria Customs Service of its responsibility of revenue collection.

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed during a one-day public hearing on a bill to repeal the Customs and Excise Management Act (2004) and the Nigeria Customs Service (Establishment) Bill had stated that the revenue collection by Customs was a distraction.

The Minister recommended that the revenue collection responsibility be transferred to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) while the NCS facilitates trade.

President of APFFLON, Frank Ogunojemite, who made the call while speaking with journalists at an event organized to mark the association’s End of Year Party in Lagos on Thursday said instead of the proposed move, the government should review the Customs Act with a view to removing bottlenecks impeding trade facilitation.

According to him, there hasn’t been any gap in the revenue collection function of Customs to justify the takeover by FIRS noting that the Service has often met and surpassed its annual revenue target thereby contributing to the nation’s economy.

“What the government should do is to review the process and the Customs Act. Customs has been collecting revenue for a long time and there hasn’t been any issue about it. They have always met and exceeded their target. So, asking the Federal Inland Revenue to take over Customs function of revenue collection will not make any difference because FIRS is also a government agency.

“The government must be sensitive in taking decisions on this. The Customs should be revived to wake up to its responsibilities rather than to strip off collection of revenue functions,” he said.

Speaking on the move to create an autonomous Customs regulatory body that is separate from the supervision of the ministry of Finance, Ogunojemite said, “It is not possible for Customs to be autonomous because they are under the Federal Ministry of Finance. They have to be checked. There must be checks and balances. Their current place under the supervision of the ministry is the best.”

Meanwhile, Ogunojemite has called for peace and unity among freight forwarders to address challenges facing practitioners and impact positively on the lives of members.

Speaking at the event which had representatives of the various freight forwarding associations in attendance, the APFFLON President said, “Without unity, there cannot be peace and, in that case, we will lose a lot. As it is now, there is no gratuity, no pension for freight forwarders, but if there is unity, we will be able to embark on projects that will impact on the lives of our members, but in a case where there is disunity there will not be proper reformation, there won’t be progress. So, unity must take centre stage, we need to show love to ourselves and how do we do that, it is through tolerance and forgiveness with that we can begin to come together like this.”

He added that the association and other freight forwarders associations have also embarked on capacity building programs to empower members and individual practitioners in the industry.

“Capacity building is very necessary and it is supposed to impact on all individuals in the freight forwarding industry. There have been a lot of setbacks in this aspect of freight forwarding because CRFFN which ought to have done this as a regulator has not. So, we have decided as individual freight forwarding associations to embark on this and empower our members and concerned freight forwarders”, he said.

Representative of the Founder of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dipo Olayoku also reiterates the call for unity among practitioners.

He commended the APFFLON President for the role he is playing in the association, urging him to sustain the tempo.

Others who spoke at the event including the representative of the President of the Association of the Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Kehinde Akintola insisted that it is only when freight forwarders are united that they can collectively achieve and surmount the challenges they face in the industry.

The highpoints of the event were the presentation of awards to some deserving stakeholders in the industry including the Editor of Shipping Position Daily Newspaper, Mr Sesan Onileimo; Editor in Chief MMS Plus, Kingsley Anaroke; Immediate past President of NAGAFF, Chief Increase Uche, Ifunanya Eze of Television Continental and Public Relations Officer, Tin Can Island port of the Nigeria Customs Service among others.