New Telegraph

NSC entwines Council over CTN implementation

Plans by the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) implement the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) called Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS)) have been subtly taken over by Customs services provider, Webb Fontaine, BAYO AKOMOLAFE reports

At various fora, government had said that more than 90 per cent of cargoes coming into the seaports were under declared by importers in order to shortchange the country. Approval In 2020, the Federal Government approved the re-introduction of Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) as Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS) to be managed and supervised in all the seaports by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) in order to tackle illegal movement of narcotics, firearms and ammunition and other sharp practices such as concealment and other malpractices at the seaports and borders. The approval was conveyed to the council by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, noting that the trade facilitation instrument had gone above CTN and now known as Advanced Cargo Information System (ACIS) currently being implemented by 23 countries including Cameroun.

Background

When it was first introduced in 2015 as Advanced Cargo Tracking Note (ACTN), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) opposed the system, saying that its implementation would further increase the cost of doing business for manufacturers, who rely mainly on imports for raw materials and machines. The Advance Cargo Information System is a computer-based information system developed by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) system to track transport equipment and cargo. It comprises standard tracking modules, which are connected by a Backbone Information System (BIS). However, it seemed that the projected has been hijacked by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to be managed by a service provider, Webb Fontaine.

Opposition

Worried by this development, the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) accused the company of hijacking a function ceded to the Shippers Council by the Federal Government. For instance, it was alleged that Webb Fontaine had put up Cargo Tracking System for customs and trade automation with a pilot scheme in Apapa Port. Regardless of the breach, the Operations Manager, Webb Fontaine, Vlad Ionescu said that the feat which was a breakthrough and major milestone in NCS modernisation drive would aid online, real-time and live monitoring containers within controlled areas in the customs zone at the port and outside of the port. He stressed that anomalies of containers missing in transit, tampering with the seal, broaching and removal of cargoes before the examination could be detected and traced with the technology, adding that it would also change the narrative that neighbouring countries like Benin Republic were ahead of Nigeria in areas of customs and ports aided automation.

Discontent

Not pleased with this explanation, the President of APFFLON, Otunba Frank Ogunojemite said that he was surprised about the development, stressing that it was the Nigerian Shippers’ Council that was saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the Cargo Tracking Note in the seaports.

Issue

Ogunojemite, who recalled that APFFLON had a pending petition against Webb Fontaine at the National Assembly over its poor performance in the subsisting contract with the Customs, wonders if this new development could be a new contract to the company by the service. He said: “I am seeking to know if Webb Fontaine has taken over the Nigerian Shippers’ Council responsibility and why should the company take over despite their records of inefficiency in her previous contract with the NCS. It needs to be sanctioned rather than given another contract to handle. “There was a petition we sent to the National Assembly and we had a meeting about two months ago, where APFFLON was invited alongside the management of Webb Fontaine by the leadership of the National Assembly. We were supposed to continue the sitting in the National Assembly over our petition. “I am now wondering, what has happened that Webb Fontaine now handles Cargo Tracking System. We are confused. We need clarification and if it is additional task for Webb Fontaine when it has not handled the one it is handling efficiently, then, it does not worth it.” In 2020, Shippers’ Council was encouraged to introduce the system in a way that shouldn’t add to the cost of doing business at the ports and to enable the nation to track imports from ports of origin to drastically reduce import of arms.

Twenty-four African countries presently use CTN and these nations include; Angola, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana and Guinea. Others include Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Togo. It would be recalled that CTN has had two stints at Nigerian ports previously, under the administration of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and later NSC, Nigeria would have to prequalify the possible companies via a bidding process. Speaking on the reintroduction of CTN, a maritime lawyer, technocrat and Director of Education and Research in the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Dr. Alban Igwe said that CTN remains the best answer to issues of anomalies and security challenges in the country. Igwe explained that this was because CTN would improve the security and safety of the supply chain as it will profile cargoes being imported into the country.

Last line

Government should ensure that cargo security is not controlled by private firm or individuals at the seaports and borders.

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