The Federal Government has issued a two-month deadline for terminal operators at the nation’s seaports to integrate the collection of the Practitioners Operating Fee (POF) into their platforms to avoid sanctions.
The government had earlier sought the cooperation of terminal operators for the implementation of the POF in the various terminals, noted that two months was generous enough having had “a gentleman agreement” to that effect.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Magdalene Ajani spoke shortly after a strategic ministerial meeting with stakeholders on the enforcement of POF in Lagos, stating that the payment is precedent to the exit of containers from the ports.
At the meeting, some operators outrightly claimed that they didn’t know, while some admitted that they know and trying to perfect the process having integrated the fee into their system.
The operators with the government, according to Ajani, now have a gentleman agreement to go back and collect the POF, within the next two months, make payment to the banks, and then, continue on a regular basis.
“Just to say that it is not the terminal operators that collect the money, it is the freight forwarders that have to pay and there is a platform which the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has developed which doesn’t take more than two minutes online to make that payment and all the terminal operators will see the receipt of the payment.
“So, this conversation is to say, please, help us to enforce this because Nigeria is losing revenue by the non-collection of POF and we need to ensure that this is done and after two months if it is not complied with, we will now begin to look at the sanctions. Fortunately, an arm of EFCC was here and they have said, this is a prelude even for them to get their SCUML Certificate.
So, if this is not done, they can’t even open an account because they have to see from the CRFFN end that the freight forwarders are compliant with this directive”. “I have told them in clear terms, that you can’t come to a country and choose the processes of engagement. You have rules in every country on how all businesses should run and they have to comply with that. We don’t have any exemption for anybody, businesses have to be run based on the rules in Nigeria and that was clearly spelt out for them and I believe that going forward, the language and the message is very clear and we will come back”.
“As I said to them, our agreement is at the beginning of the third month, I would be asking for the compliance rate at least from CRFFN and I also clearly stated that if we find anybody not complying, then the sanctions will have to kick in. I think two months is generous enough for people to do what they need to do and I believe that they will do exactly what we have agreed to do so that we don’t have to go to the other side of it and that is the sanctions because sanctions can be applied.
”CRFFN is saddled with the responsibility of developing a comprehensive freight forwarding policy and promoting freight forwarding as a career as well as providing an enabling environment for freight forwarding business with a view to creating job opportunities for Nigerians.
POF is designed to ensure sustainable funding of the freight forwarding venture in the country and its integration will promote the global competitiveness and also build capacity for effective participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA).
To actualise the goals and objectives of POF, are certain conditions by CRFFN including a robust electronic payment system to generate invoices for import and export, make payment for generated invoices and view a comprehensive report of transactions on the Council portal.
She noted: “So, this will make it very transparent for everybody who has to pay this. The application also serves as a database for determining the number of cargoes coming in and out of the port and it is also designed in such a way that invoices can be generated through self-services.”
CRFFN had a Memorandum of Understanding with relevant stakeholders like the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) on POF, and this, according to Ajani, enabled the government to know that from the inception of the programme on 24th of February, 2021, some terminal operators have failed to comply with this MoU, leading to revenue loss for Nigeria.
“So, to address this issue, that is why we are here to listen to you to know why you have decided not to comply or partially complied so that we know what the challenges are. But it is pertinent for us to note that the job of the ministry is to ensure that government policies are adhered to and where there is a failure of adherence, you leave us with no choice but to look at the sanctions that could follow such disobedience to the policy implementation.
“It is important for us to know that the POF is a win-win for both the government and the practitioners with the promise of organized collective action against the numerous threats including intrusion and dominance of the space by people who shouldn’t be there, near absence of local content participation in the oil and gas services and need to build capacity for effective participation in the AfCFTA regime.“
“I want to plead with all of us, the stakeholders in particular and the leadership of the freight forwarding associations to sensitise your members with a view to ensuring full compliance with the POF regime and to also assure you that the Federal Ministry of Transportation will put in place sufficient guidelines to ensure that funds realised from the POF are devoted to professionalization and capacity building of the practitioners.”
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