The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has literally failed in carrying out most of its statutory functions of training and manpower development and regulation of freight forwarders as enshrined its Act.
The National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) stated this in a reaction to a statement credited to the Registrar, Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria (CRFFN), Barrister Samuel Nwakaohu describing the NAGAFF Presidential Compliance Team as illegal.
NAGAFF said it set up the Compliance Team to save the industry from sinking into an abyss when it discovered that the leaders of CRFFN were inept in the discharge of their statutory functions.
According to NAGAFF, section 4(b) of CRFFN Act states that the Council will determine the standards of knowledge and skill to be attained by persons seeking to be registered freight forwarders and raising those standards from time to time in accordance with International Industry practice and 4(c) to regulate and control the practice of freight forwarding.
The association maintained that if an individual was properly trained, the tendency is that he or she will behave aright better than an individual improperly trained by any standards. In the practice of freight forwarding in Nigeria, it has been observed that most members lack proper professional training. Therefore, their attitude to practice their profession is always questionable.
‘’The expectation of NAGAFF as the umbrella body of all freight forwarders is that by this 21st-century freight forwarding practice, a reasonable percentage of the practitioners must have been properly trained to have undergone series of training programs. But to our chagrin, CRFFN has literally failed in carrying out most of their statutory functions as expected.
‘’In the wisdom of NAGAFF based on the aims and objectives of the association, we have the responsibility to regulate, train and empower our members. By doing so, they are expected to behave better. Having realised that we are yet to get the best out of our numerous members in terms of professional good conduct, we decided to establish the Presidential 100% Compliance Team.
‘’For emphasis, the Team was established to manage our members in line with international best practices. Ensure that freight Forwarders are made to be compliant in the way they practice the profession. The kind of professional advice they should give their clients should be akin to professional ethics; compliance to fiscal policies of the Federal Government and how best to relate with agencies of government including the Nigeria Customs Service.
‘’Apparently, we set out inadvertently to help CRFFN carry out her statutory duties. Our efforts are tantamount to complementing the activities of CRFFN as a responsible member of the council. Ordinarily, we could have expected CRFFN, to commend and encourage us to even do more. Instead, they chose to disparage NAGAFF.
‘’Our commitment to this is in line with our desire to sanitize the system, assist in facilitating trade to attract and enhance revenue generation. Make the freight forwarding subsector one of the biggest employers of labor, reduce the cost of doing business which had skyrocketed by not being compliant by the shippers.
‘’To say the least, we are practically disappointed in the unconfirmed statement of the Registrar, as such NAGAFF may reconsider its membership of the COUNCIL. In addition, NAGAFF may return to FIATA as well as relisting our appeal court suit to determine the status of CRFFN in reality’’ said Arthur Igwilo, Head, Policy and Strategy, NAGAFF.
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