29th April, 2011
The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), is tidying up arrangement to commence the collection of what it called practising fees on all items imported into the country.
In the same vein, the Joint Action Committee of Freight Forwarders (JACOFF), has empowered chapter chairmen of the various freight forwarding associations at the nation’s entry points, to collect cargo clearance dues (CCD) on its behalf.
P.M. NEWS findings revealed that the CRFFN is poised to rake in huge revenue as it will be charging N1.50 per kilogramme on all import/export items and this translates to a whopping N1,500 per tonne of cargo.
However, the collection of the CRFFN practising fee and the cargo clearance dues being collected by the various freight forwarding associations under the auspices of JACOFF, will run together without creating a hitch in the system.
JACOFF had reached its decision on Wednesday at a meeting with all chairmen and secretaries of all chapters of the component associations in Lagos.
In attendance were the national presidents respectively of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLA), Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFF) and National Association of Air Freight Forwarders and Consolidators (NAFFAC).
JACOFF had muted the idea of collecting CCD on imported consignments at Nigerian seaports, airports and land border stations in order to have money that can be used to fight its cause.
The national presidents of ANLCA and NAGAFF, Prince Olayiwola Shittu and Mr. Eugene Nweke respectively, who spoke at the meeting, said that the levy was necessary due to the fact that their members have allegedly suffered for too long in the hands of security agencies at the seaports, airports and land border posts.
Accordingly, the associations had agreed that N1,000 and N2,000 will be paid as CCD on 20 and 40-foot containers respectively, while N500 and N1,000 will be paid for small and bigger vehicles, irrespective of the model, while N5,000 and N10,000 were fixed for small and bigger truck imports through the land borders stations.
For bulk cargoes, the amount is to be determined by the size of the truck used for the carriage, while a 20-foot container will go for N1,000 and a 40 footer, N2,000. CRFFN is poised to rake in over N10 billion per annum from the proposed collection.