As part of its economic regulation mandate, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) said it has recovered about N34,977,741.67 and $500,000(N180 million at N360/$), totalling N215 million for shippers that are doing business in the nation’s seaports.
The Council said it was able to recover this amount through its mediation in 116 trade-related and other disputes lodged by shippers between January and September of 2018.
Investigation shows that the Complaint Unit of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council was able to recover the amount sequel to its discussions with the parties involved in the disputes, and the investigations carried out on the matter.
A breakdown of the number of complaints lodged and attended to by the Council during the period, indicated that 23 complaints were received in the first quarter of 2018; 52 in the second quarter and 41 in the third quarter.
On the type of complaints that were lodged, the Council said 34 disputes had to do with demurrage/container deposit refund; 26 disputes were on arbitrary charges;15 disputes were on storage charges, eight were on export related issues, while seven were on trade disputes.
Furthermore, six disputes were on import-related matters; another six disputes were on delay in transfer of containers; four were on missing cargo, and four were on delayed shipping/terminal release /delivery order, while three were on delivery and another three were disputes around wrong documentation.
Also, out of the total number of complaints that were received within the period under review, 59 were from shipping companies; 24 from terminal operators; eight from exporters; six from importers and agents; three from consolidators; two from government agencies; two from haulage companies and one each from stevedoring and state government.
However, to guard against such complaints, Hassan Bello, executive secretary/CEO through Moses Fadipe, deputy director of the Complaints Unit, advised shippers to ensure they are above board at all times in their documentation, and to report to the Council any observed infractions along the importation and cargo clearing chain, which is the economic regulator for prompt action.
Fadipe said shippers must learn to archive all their transactional documents because of unforeseen occurrences.
He also called on shipping companies and other service providers in the maritime sector to ensure that all their cost elements are transparent and tied to services rendered.
Shippers must always gauge the feelings of their stakeholders, meet with them formally and at intervals to share information.
According to him, service providers must know that fraction of increment on cost of doing business affects the economy.
It would be recalled that the Council has been performing its mediatory function in line with its mandate to serve as a link between providers and consumers of shipping service, to facilitate trade as well as check a situation where loss of funds by importers would lead to passage of liabilities to consumers in the area of high cost of goods and services.
Also, the Council has been advising stakeholders on contemporary issues in the transport industry, as well as the Federal Government’s policy formulation and implementation as they affect the transport sector, thus ensuring that the industry increases its contributions to the economy.
Aside mediation, other areas in which the Council has been contributing to economic development include ensuring ports patronage, curbing arbitrary charges, proffering solutions to gridlock, paving way for fast clearing of goods, reduction of tariff in seaport sector by 40 percent, facilitating trade, planning cancellation of container deposits, building infrastructure for the economy, and acting as an enabler for the establishment of Dry Ports and Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) among others.
It has also been impacting on the nation’s maritime sector through industry support, representation, advisory, complaints handling, advocacy, and research, provision of information, enlightenment, and regulatory role as well as through various projects undertaken on behalf of government.
