Customs, importers, experts back Shippers’ Council on ICTN implementation

The Nigeria Customs Service, Importers Association of Nigeria ( IMAN) and the Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC) have voiced strong support for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to drive the implementation of the re- introduced International Cargo Trcking Note ( ICTN).

Speaking at an event organised by the Maritime Reporrters Association of Nigeria ( MARAN) in Lagos on Thursday, the stakeholders underscored the strategic importance of the ICTN in enhancing transparency, reducing illicit trade, and improving Nigeria’s position in global maritime trade.

Assistant Comptroller General of Customs in charge of Zone ‘A’, ACG Charles Orbih, emphasized that cargo tracking is indispensable for national security.

Orbih cited numerous seizures of illicit arms and drugs at Nigerian ports and highlighted how ICTN would provide critical intelligence to intercept contraband before it enters the country.

“We must rise to the clarion call of protecting our borders. Forget the cost implications—security comes first. The ICTN will allow us to track cargo digitally and scientifically, ensuring that threats are neutralized before they pose harm,” he asserted.

Orbih also confirmed that Customs is ready to collaborate with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council on the implementation, acknowledging that the system will streamline operations and reduce clearance delays.

“For the Nigeria Customs Service, security is paramount. Our information flow is based on tracking, and the tracking system that is being introduced by the Federal Government through ICTN is to enhance national security.

“You can imagine if there was no information, the 840 arms and ammunition that we handed over to the management of small and medium arms unit recently in Port Harcourt, what would have happened to us in this country.

“Last week again, we handed over 440 weapons to them again, and about 1,600 is waiting to be handed over at the Federal Operations unit. All these information, we must develop on its efficiency for the good of our country.

“The drug war is a massive one, and we must use all the systems being introduced by the Federal Government.

“There is no week at every of our customs commands that we don’t hand over illicit drugs, whether at seaport or airport. We must all rice up to this clarion call.

Also speaking, Head of Research at Sea Empowerment and Research Center (SEREC), Dr. Eugene Nweke pointed out that Nigeria cannot afford to lag behind in global trade facilitation.

He noted that advanced economies and neighboring African countries including Ghana, Kenya, Turkey, and Brazil have implemented and leveraged ICTN to improve cargo clearance efficiency, enhance security, and boost government revenue.

“America has adopted advanced cargo tracking, and many African nations have implemented ICTN. Nigeria must follow suit to enhance revenue collection, trade efficiency, and security. The NSC must be empowered to oversee this process to ensure effective monitoring and compliance,” he stated.

Continuing, he said “the only way for us to ensure check and balances in our maritime sector is for us to introduce the ICTN, and bring good consultants that would administer it for us to achieve reasonable compliance.
For the customs, whether you are compliant or not, they have their way of generating revenue, but it shouldn’t be like that. For safety and security, the ICTN is necessary, it is a trade liberalisation tool.

“For us at SEREC, we believe that ICTN would bring reasonable compliance and checkmate activities of vessels.
Shippers across in Africa after the suspension of liner conferences, the first country to set up this ICTN was Gabon, followed by Burkina Faso and others have also adopted it.

“On the issue of cost, we believe that every service rendered must have cost components, and every cost must have services. If at the end of the day, the ICTN would help checkmate freight charges slammed on us by international shipping lines, I think they are doing us a service.” he said.

On his part, Dr Mubarak Ibrahim Mahmoud who represented the Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN) Special Task Force, said the ICTN is a concept that goes beyond revenue generation.

“We believe in IMAN that an ordinary Nigerian business man should not do his business at the expense of National security, neither should he do business at an entire cost to his hardwork, therefore, we need a stabilisation between the state actors who are meant to check the import of cargoes in and out of Nigeria.

“In as much as we want to make progress in a country that is as complex as Nigeria, we must recognise that it is not all the time that we must have a law backing an initiative no matter how good that initiative is before it can be good for us as a people.

“This is the essence of leadership and having leaders that have the political will to make things happen, as far as the intentions behind the initiative is correct. An example of this is Port Reform exercise introduced by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“The ICTN goes beyond revenue generation, it is a trade facilitation tool. It is a game changer.

“The customs needs capacity to initiate the ICTN operation into its cargo clearance and release mechanism for it to be effective, so that the ICTN would not constitute another problem.

“We just concluded a National Single Window conference which has given us a knowledge that all electronic systems would be inculcated into the national single window. By so doing, customs would have less headache in managing the ICTN.

“On our part, we want the ICTN, but at no cost to an average importer who is an ordinary business man in Nigeria” he said.

Earlier in his address, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah who was represented by Celestine Akujobi, Director of Consumer Affairs, emphasized that the ICTN is not a new initiative to the NSC, as the Council has successfully managed it in the past before it was suspended.

He reaffirmed that this time, the agency is fully prepared to execute the system efficiently, ensuring it benefits shippers, the government, and the entire economy.

“The ICTN is a trade facilitation tool, not just a revenue-generating initiative. The Shippers’ Council is committed to implementing it in a way that enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and strengthens national security. The system is not a duplication of the Nigeria Customs Service’s (NCS) role—rather, it complements existing frameworks, as evidenced by previous collaborations between the NSC, Customs, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).”

Akujobi further dismissed concerns about cost implications, assuring stakeholders that any associated costs would be minimal and absorbed within the trade system. The primary objective, he noted, is to enhance cargo monitoring and eliminate leakages in revenue and security.

Speaking, he said “The ICTN is not new to the Nigerian Shippers Council, it has been operated before but it was suspended, we are aware of that.

“The most important thing is that we are moving forward, the ICTN started years ago, it was an UNCTAD advisory that Shippers Council of every country should monitor the movement of cargoes from port of origin to destination.

“The UNCTAD advisory was to all developing countries following the demise of the liner conferences.

“In the same vein, the Union of African Shippers Council met and discussed on how to implement the cargo tracking, as early as 2006, sister countries have started the implementation of the Cargo Tracking, Others started 2011.

“Today, there are over 20 countries both in West and Central African subregions implementing ICTN.

“Nigeria has tried it in the past and it was successful, I can attest to that. During that time, i was officer in charge of ICTN as an Assistant Director then, it is true that it was later suspended, but I don’t think that the situation back then is the same today. This is why this Time around, we are determined to get it right.

“For us at the Shippers Council, we are ready to go ahead with it, we believe that any new innovation that is introduced, some people will say yes to it, while some would say No, but it is for us to look at all the positions dispassionately and how it would be of benefit to both the operators, the government and the generality of Nigerians.

“It would not be a duplication to the role of the customs, this is because the first implementation that was done was in collaboration with customs and Central Bank of Nigeria, if it was going to be a duplication, customs would have complained against it then, they were topmost of the implantation committee at that time.

“The federal government is not working againt the interest of its citizens. If ICTN is not a trade facilitation tool, the government would not come up with it.

“On the fears that ICTN would add to cost of doing business at the port, it would be at a minimal cost such that it would be absorbed, the ICTN is not expressly to generate revenue.”