Shippers’ Council Appeal to Aggrieved Freight Forwarders over Increase in Terminal Charges

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has pleaded with the aggrieved freight forwarders over the increase in terminal charges to await the intervention of its Executive Secretary, Emmanuel Jime.

It could be recalled that the council had given the terminal operators approval to raise their charges in response to the economic realities in the country.

Consequently, the operators affected the increase by about 600 percent with effect from October 15th, 2023.

However, a group of freight forwarders, under the aegis of the Association of Concerned Freight Forwarders and Transporters, (ACFF&T) approached the Shippers’Council, the commercial regulator in the maritime industry, with their grievances, threatening to ground the operations at the ports if the hike is not reversed.

It was however gathered that the protesting concerned freight forwarders, led by its Vice President, Ndubuisi Uzoegbo, did not meet the Executive Secretary of the council, Emmanuel JIme and Director of Regulatory Services, Ifeoma Ezedinma, who were said to be outside Lagos on official duties.

However, the Council team, who met with the grieving freight forwarders, was able to placate them to shelve any action pending the arrival of the top hierarchy of the council who they believed would resolve the vexed issue.

A member of ACFF&T, Jonny Ubaka, who was at the meeting, confirmed that the Council team asked the protesting group to hold on until the return of the Executive Secretary and Director of Regulatory Service.

He also disclosed that another meeting is scheduled for next week.

The freight forwarders who were guests at the Maritime Reporter Association of Nigeria, (MARAN) Roundtable in Lagos, had said that storage charges which used to be N15,120 after 14 days will now be over N90,000 when the new charge comes into effect. Uzeogbo also explained that the increase in terminal charges, if allowed to subsist, would result in spiral inflation, leading to the tripling of the cost of imported goods, or outright abandonment of such imports since the importers cannot afford the new charges.

The increase in the handling charges, demurrage, rent collection, and storage charges by Shipping companies and terminals has been described as an action that will further fuel inflation in the country.

However, another top freight forwarder, Kayode Farinto, the immediate past Acting National President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), has said that the terminal operators have justifiable reasons to increase their charges due to what he described as the spiral inflationary trend in the country.