Presidency Strategizes To Retain On Customs, NPA, Police In Nigeria Ports
LAGOS JUNE 19TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has disclosed that it is aiming to ensure that only the Nigerian Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and Nigerian Police Force will be at seaports once the Single Window and functional scanners are put in place.
PEBEC said as there would be no need for routine physical examination of cargo by additional agencies at the ports with these facilities in place.
This, however, has buttressed the Nigerian Shippers’ Council’s call for operationalisation of the National Single Window and deployment of scanners at the nation’s seaports appears to be on a fast track.
The Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole made the disclosure on Monday at an investigative hearing on the incessant influx of fake, substandard and counterfeit products into the country by the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Commerce; Industry; Information; National Orientation; Ethics and Values.
Dr. Oduwole said the decision to streamline the operations of agencies at the port was first implemented by the previous administration in 2011, and again reinforced in 2018.
Oduwole said streamlining agencies’ operations at the port is at the core of Nigeria’s ease of doing business reforms and in line with global best practices aimed at removing bureaucratic constraints and reducing costs to doing business at the ports.
Also speaking, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, disclosed that there is an implementation committee at work to ensure the single window and scanners are deployed appropriately.
According to him, “this will significantly improve cargo turnaround time at our ports, promote efficiency and transparency, thereby removing the corruption opportunities that fuel the entry of substandard goods into the country thereby enhancing Nigerian ports’ competitiveness in the West African region.”
The Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, who represented the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila commended the effort of the Joint Committee and expressed hope that the hearing will be a step towards putting an end to the influx of fake counterfeited products into Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the House Committee on Commerce, Hon. Olufemi Fakeye stated that the hearing “will address the challenges of eradicating imported counterfeit products, particularly in view of Nigeria’s commitment to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
Portnews.com
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