Customs agents and freight forwarders have warned that any seaport terminal and aviation cargo handling company that asks them to pay the Professional Operation Fees (POF) shall be picketed.
They stressed that the directive was given to terminals and aviation cargo handlers by the Ministry of Transportation, and which the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) is poised to enforce, which was a gross violation of the court orders.
Since instituted over a decade ago, the CRFFN has never enjoined the cooperation and respect of its members because of excessive government interferences which they abhor. The collection of the POF by the CRFFN, its much-anticipated revenue source, has suffered many court cases over its legality.
Elder Samuel Oluwole Obe, a seasoned customs agent and the Chairman of PTML Chapter of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Lagos, gave the warning in an interview with PortNews in Lagos on Monday, July 26, 2021, saying that the collection of POF by the CRFFN remains illegal until the court pronounces.
The ANLCA Chairman maintained that the POF should be paid by importers on their cargo. He explained that shipping companies should inculcate the POF into their billing systems and transfer the payment to importers, not customs agents and freight forwarders to do so.
“This is illegality. Why would the Ministry of Transportation and CRFFN give such a directive to terminals to begin the collection of POF when there are many pending court cases which are yet to determine the legality of the POF? Many terminals have told me that they have received the order. Why the rush?
“Collection of POF remains illegal; the ministry and the CRFFN cannot enforce the collection unless and until the court of the land pronounces. We are ready to protest and picket terminals or aviation cargo handlers that force our members and other customs agents and freight forwarders to pay. The leaders of CRFFN cannot turn the port into a banana republic; so we are of the opinion that other stakeholders should join ANLCA in the fight against the illegality. Our advice to terminals is to desist from obeying the directive,” said Elder Samuel Oluwole Obe.
The ANLCA Chieftain described the death of his predecessor Prince Bola Adeniran, the past chairman of PTML Chapter of ANLCA, as sudden and shocking news, not only to him and the association but to the freight forwarding fraternity, and prayed to God for the repose of his soul.
Prince Bola Adeniran died last week in Lagos after a brief illness and since being buried in accordance with the Islamic tenets.
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