Immediate past Vice-Chairman of the Tin-Can Island Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Barrister Ada Akpunonu, has accused destination inspection service providers of alleged incompetence.
These service providers, according to her, are part of the cause of the prevailing low level of imports into the country.
Akpunonu told SHIPS & PORTS DAILY that, aside the economic depression facing the country, the destination inspection service providers are also to be blamed for the decline in the volume of imports into the country as, according to her, they render substandard services, which consequently increases the cost of clearing and deters importers from engaging further in importation.
“The services the service providers render to our people is nothing to write home about. Their services are below expectation, we don’t need them! I don’t see why we should be booked for scanning and for five days now we are being told by these service providers that they cannot scan because the network is bad, the system is down. And the importers are still made to bear the demurrage charges! This scares the importers away,” she said.
Akpunonu urged the Federal Government to facilitate the era of Single Window Trade by giving the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) the chance to prove that it is ready to take over from the destination inspection service providers.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.