24th June, 2011
The Sub-Regional Coordinator and Secretary of the Association of Ship and Cargo Agents for West Africa Maritime Trade (ASCA), Dr. Martins Enebeli has criticised the intention of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) to commence the collection of cargo dues at the nation’s ports.
Enebeli described the move by CRFFN as fraudulent and criminal in nature.
According to him CRFFN has no right to collect cargo dues because there is no where in the world that the trade is regulated, adding that CRFFN was only set up to regulate its members and not the trade.
“The statute is very clear; it says that they can only regulate the practitioner, not the trade. There is no where in the world where businesses are regulated; it is only those practicing the trade that are regulated.
“So, coming out to say they want to start collecting levies is unprofessional because the methods to use to generate their funds is clearly spelt out in the Act,†he added.
On alleged collection of N250 million as allocation from the Federal Ministry of Transport by the Council, Enebeli absolved the council of any blame saying that it is at the discretion of the ministry to grant allocation to anybody.
