Clearing Agents Flay Slow Scanning Process

Some clearing agents have experienced dissatisfaction over the hitches and delay being experienced at the scanning sites in Lagos Ports.

Speaking with P.M.NewsBusinessWeek,  Gbenga Adewale, a clearing agent lamented the unusual bottleneck and the high cost incurred as a result of the delay.

He revealed that it takes days to clear containers waiting in turn for scanning, a situation that often results in delay.

According to him, this consequently costs agents who have to pay more for demurrage.

Apart from the logjam at the scanning site, Victor Umeh, another clearing agent, bemoaned the technical hitches being experienced at the site and called for the appropriate authority to improve efficiency at the site.

P.M.NewsBusinessWeek learnt that due to the hitches and the bottleneck during scanning exercise, many clearing agents are losing interest in the process.

They rather prefer physical examination of cargoes rather than scanning, a situation that has led to the scanners being underutilized.

Aminu Mohammed, Corporate Relations Manager, Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, CDIL, recently complained about the scanners at the ports being underutilized.

He said the two-unit scanners installed by the firm at Lagos Port Complex and Tin-Can Island Port are not fully utilized by consignees and agents.

According to him, the scanner at the Lagos Port Complex has the capacity to scan 400 containers but it presently scans about 200 containers.  While the unit of scanners located at Tin-Can scans an average of 150 containers daily as against 300 containers.

In the same vein, the Senate Committee on Finance during its visit to the Ports in Lagos few weeks ago, advocated for a well co-ordinated and sophisticated system of physical cargo examination.

The Committee suggested that Nigeria Customs Service should do more of physical examination of cargoes rather than scanning.

“From your explanation, what you are looking for is discrepancy and that discrepancy may either be indicative or not so clearly indicative. But physical examination will tell you what exactly it is. It seems the analysis is simply saying what it should be, but which may not be the case. But, surely, there is discrepancy, and that will spark  suspicious investigation, which will tell you exactly what is contained in the container,” Mohammed Markafi, Committee Chairman stated.

The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF, is of the stand that scanning of heterogeneous goods should be avoided. According to the founder, Dr Boniface Aniebonam “the idea of taking heterogeneous imports to scanners is a waste of time because it is natural that the containers will enter suspect channel resulting in physical examination”.

However, Aniebonam is of the view that if all importers and exporters are honest in making genuine declaration, it will also curb the delay of cargoes during scanning.