Following the submission made by the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) that the parameter for calculating the benchmark did not represent 3 percent of the freight, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has set up a committee to review the parameters for calculating the charges.
Dakuku Peterside, director general of NIMASA, who inaugurated the committee, confirmed that the review will aim at addressing the parameters for calculating the benchmark shipping lines say result in payment of higher charges than necessary.
“As a sensitive organisation, our actions have huge impact on businesses and our function as a regulatory agency is not to stifle business but to encourage business, promote shipping and support both indigenous and foreign entrepreneurs,” Peterside said.
According to him, the agency’s objective is to create enabling environment for the industry to thrive and not to kill the industry. And we realize that there must be a meeting point between practitioners in the industry and the regulatory.
The committee comprises of Stakeholders; industry practitioners, regulators with the aim of advising the agency on what should constitute the benchmark. The committee has six weeks to submit its recommendations, which will be studied by the NIMASA management and thereafter forwarded to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi in line with Section 5, Sub (1) of the NIMASA Act, 2007 for further action.
