The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (NAGAFF) has said the collection of Practitioners’ Operating Fee (POF) will be used to develop capacity for its members.
This was disclosed on Monday by the Founder of the association, Dr Boniface Aniebonam when he addressed members of the association.
He however directed members of the association to comply with the directive of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) on the payment of the fee.
Aniebonam said there was need for the collection and payment of the POF, since part of the money is to be utilized by the association’s to train and develop capacity of their members.
“You must comply with the directive of CRFFN because the money collected will be used for your training,” he said.
Aniebonam also urged all NAGAFF members to ensure compliance and ensure genuine declarations whenever they are imputing information into the CRFFN portal.
Also speaking, President of NAGAFF, Eugene Nweke warned that all members of the association must accept POF, saying members who don’t pay it might face jail terms.
“The concept is not too far from the PAAR concept. As professionals, we owe it as a point of duty to pay the money. The old era of impunity is gone and every freight forwarder must have i-pads and computers to do this job.”
“This will not impede on trade, rather it would facilitate trade. As soon as you start payment of Customs duty, pay your POF. Once you pay, the message goes round, and CRFFN has the shipping manifest of every cargo, so there is no hiding place.”
Nweke said that the National Assembly and the Ministry of Justice have been notified of the collection and this is an indication that freight forwarders have come of age.
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.