A Chartered Institute of Customs Brokers which has a mandate to attain professionalism among practitioners through capacity building as well as distinguish customs agents from freight forwarders is to be established soon by the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), its National President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu has said.
Expressing confidence in the National Assembly readiness to pass the bill into law, Shittu expressed hope that President Muhammadu Buhari would give his assent to the bill thereafter.
The National President revealed that the association has already put appropriate machinery in motion to acquire 10 acres of land for its permanent site in the federal capital territory (FCT).
Apparently aware that it tale a long time to complete the structures that will house the institute in its permanent site, Shittu also disclosed that ANLCA has plans to kick off the institute in a temporary location once the bill is passed into law.
According to him, upper chamber of the National Assembly has gotten to an advanced stage in its considerations of the bill that will make the Institute to become a reality.
We plan to put the institute in place in line with global standards and practices. We will ensure that customs brokers maintain their distinct identity. We have gotten international backing for the institute.
Continuing, Shittu who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Skellas Limited said: “We are embarking on the establishment of the institute based on what is done internationally. The distraction we are having now is that it is because the CRFFN wants to continue to put all animals in one cage when they are not compatible genetically and in real sense by lumping customs brokers with freight forwarders
“Of course, we are able to get international intervention for what we are doing and the National Assembly has been able to see the rationale behind it that we are not compatible within the framework of freight forwarders.’’
He stated that the forwarding of the bill to the legislature was made easy for the fact that there was no dissenting voice on it by all the organs of the association. These include the National Executive Committee (NECOM), the Working Committee and the Board of Trustees (BOT) as well as the entire members.
Describing the initiative as a giant stride by his association, Shittu also stated that it is a good development that will confer a lot of respect and dignity on members of ANLCA as well as make it to stand out the more among its peers.
THISDAY has reported that ANLCA has consistently advocated for the removal of its members from the regulation of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) on the grounds of his belief that it has been a double jeopardy for its members to be regulated simultaneously by the Nigerian Customs Service and the CRFFN.
He said all the other members in ANLCA’’s sister associations are freight forwarders whose job is cargo movement , whether import or export , meaning that customs cargo clearance must have been completed before they are engaged , wondering why freight forwarders would now be under the same regulation with the custom brokers.
His words: “If you go online, and check the different meanings of customs brokers and freight forwarders, a customs broker is defined as a person (as operated in America) or firm that clears goods or merchandise through customs for a consignee or shipper.
“But a freight forwarder is said to be a person or firm that arranges to pick up or delivers goods on the instruction of a shipper or a consignee from one point to the other by various necessary conveyances and common carrier’’.
