Shippers Council abolishes Shipping Coys’ containers cleaning fee

Abiola Seun |

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has abolished the container cleaning fee hitherto being collected by shipping companies.

This was even as he said that fifteen other port charges were removed from the list of charges.

The executive secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Barr. Hassan Bello said the moment the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) comes into effect, the implementation will also become inevitable.

However, speaking on the development, Chairman of the Lagos State Shippers Association, Mr Jonathan Nicol, said that the group will protest the new charges if they fall below their expectations.

Nicol said the shipping companies must withdraw the court case they instituted against NSC resisting the Council’s demand that they refund certain monies to some shippers.

The association also described the resort to the court by the shipping companies as an insult on the Nigerian Government.

He said: “The Nigerian Shippers Council has been involved in negotiations of charges with these foreign shipping companies before they went to court. They must withdraw the case before the negotiations can take place. They went to court when the negotiations were going on, we are an interested party in the case because we are the ones paying the monies.

“We are waiting to see the outcome of the negotiations before we know what line of action we will take. We are going to protest if the negotiations between the Nigerian Shippers Council and the shipping companies are not good enough and does not meet our expectations.

“Something positive must be achieved, we know how much reduction we want and we must be carried along in the collective bargaining. Shipping companies cannot dictate to us.”

According to Kayode Farinto, Vice President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, “what is happening in Nigeria is pure extortion by the shipping companies.”
Farinto also said that once the management of the Nigerian Shippers Council is able to go into the MoU, the shipping firms will have to adhere to the MoU.
He said: “You see, what is happening in Nigeria is pure extortion. The shipping companies are owners of the boxes, the container cleaning fee has been charged along with the cost of freight.”