Group Wants Foreign Firm Investigated over Alleged Unfair Shipping Practice
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
A coalition under the aegis of the Citizens Whistleblowers Coalition (CWC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to order an investigation into the alleged unfair business practices of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
The group that made the call in a petition to Tinubu said the investigation should center on MSC practices against Nigerian shippers, including alleged unfair container deposit charges, illegal detention of shipments, and unfair demurrage charges.
The coalition, in the petition signed by its Programme Officer, Nafiu Ibrahim; Officer Communication and Liaison, Ella Susan and Officer, Socio-Economic Rights, Dodeye Arikpo, appealed to the President to probe MSC for alleged economic sabotage and judicial subversion.
The stakeholders said they resorted to writing the petition after MSC allegedly refused to honour the National Assembly’s invitations, disregarded the Minister of Blue Economy’s memo on container deposit charges.
The coalition insisted on an exclusive jurisdiction clause that required all disputes in Nigeria to be litigated in London.
They further insisted that MSC’s alleged unfair business practices directly impacted the Nigerian economy and had led to high costs of goods and services being passed on to the poor masses by importers.
They explained that the petition became important because they believed that the company’s practices were contrary to several provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Act, the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, and other acts of the National Assembly.
The petitioners said: “We are committed to combating corruption and unfair business practices in all its forms while advocating for good governance to create a more just, egalitarian, and equitable society.
“We write to bring to your kind attention the ill treatment and oppression of Nigerians at the hands of MSC, a shipping company operating in Nigeria. Without doubt, Nigeria is generally an import-dependent country as it relies largely on the importation of goods to fuel its economy.
“According to World Bank data, Nigeria’s import-to-GDP ratio is around 12 percent, and MSC, being the biggest shipping line in the world, accounts for the majority of the imports into Nigeria.
“We note, however, that over the years, MSC has perpetrated unfair business practices against Nigeria and Nigerian shippers. Some of the practices include unfair container deposit charges, illegal and unlawful detention of shipments contrary to Nigerian laws, unfair demurrage charges, obnoxious detention charges, and unfair, unjust and unreasonable clauses.”
The coalition expressed surprise that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), primarily charged under the FCCPA with policing the said unfair practices, has allegedly remained silent and failed to investigate and bring MSC to book.
“Notably, the unfair container deposit charges running into billions of naira brought about the intervention by the Minister of Blue Economy, who directed a replacement of the container deposit fee with an indemnity scheme, but MSC has refused to implement this indemnity scheme but has instead continued to enforce its unscrupulous container charges.”
The petitioners bemoaned an exclusive jurisdiction clause in MSC’s Bill of Lading, which required all disputes against the company to be litigated in the High Court in London, United Kingdom.
The coalition argued that such a clause was oppressive and unreasonable and had imposed hardship on Nigerian shippers, who were expected to incur significant expenses to litigate disputes in London.
The petitioners made a reference to the recent decision of the London High Court in Case No: CL-2024-000700, saying it further confirmed MSC’s oppression of Nigerians.
“In that case, MSC obtained an anti-suit injunction against a Nigerian company, Interglobal Ltd relying on the exclusive jurisdiction clause in its Bill of Lading”, they said.
