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The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has reiterated its call on shipping companies operating at the nation’s seaports to engage relevant stakeholders before implementing any increase in tariffs as freight forwarders, importers, manufacturers and other members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS) rejected the increment.
The call was made by the Executive Secretary of the Council, Dr. Pius Akutah MON, during a stakeholders’ meeting on tariff review for charges by shipping companies, service providers, clearing agents, importers, and freight forwarders, held on Wednesday at the Council’s headquarters in Lagos.
Akutah, who was represented by the Director of Consumer Affairs at the NSC, Mrs. Ify Okolue, said stakeholder engagement is critical to maintaining order within the port system and ensuring that Nigeria’s ports align with global best practices, while safeguarding the interests of port users and the national economy.
He explained that the Council’s mandate is to promote fairness, efficiency, and balance within the port system.
“Our role is not only to ensure that service providers operate within an economically justifiable framework, but also to protect port users from arbitrary, unjustified, or anti-competitive charges. In carrying out this responsibility, the Council is guided by due process, transparency, stakeholder consultation, and the overriding national interest,” the NSC boss.
Speaking further, Dr. Akutah said the Council remains open to dialogue and is committed to ensuring equity, regulatory integrity, and the long-term sustainability of the maritime industry.
Speaking after the meeting, the President of ANLCA, Chief Emenike Nwokeoji, maintained that freight forwarders are fully convinced some of the shipping lines, including the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) don’t deserve an upward review in their charges.
The ANLCA President, who was speaking through the Association’s National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme, disclosed that the resolution at the meeting was that all increments in shipping charges remain suspended until proper engagement is done.
“Everybody rejected the increment because the increment doesn’t have any justification. We insisted they should go back to the drawing board. We also stressed that is not appropriate for the shipping companies and terminal operators to have an engagement with NSC before a stakeholders engagement with the trading public – importers and freight forwarders.
“It is the Council’s duty as a regulator to have called for a larger house for a stakeholders meeting. This would have saved us a lot of time, prevented the dispute and issues. We itemized some of the operational challenges affecting freight forwarding, but the focus was on the increment by shipping lines.”
While aligning with the suspension of the increment, the National Vice President of Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN), Chief Ndubuisi George, called for a 6-month grace period for the clearance of backlog consignments already being processed by oversea suppliers.
The IMAN National Vice President recommended the creation of an inclusive tariff review forum with IMAN as the lead cargo-owner representative and the adoption of a transparent, internationally benchmarked tariff-setting framework in line with global best practices.
He, however, apologized to the importing public for trade disruptions resulting in loss of investments caused by the protests against unfair increments without stakeholders engagement.
“IMAN maintains that any tariff or rent review conducted without its input is invalid and unacceptable. The Association remains committed to constructive engagement and commends the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, for withdrawing the controversial approvals pending conclusive engagement with IMAN-an action that restored confidence and stability within the port system,” he said.
On his part, the ANLCA Western Zone Coordinator, Alhaji Femi Anifowose, commended the participating freight forwarders, importers and OPS groups for attending the meeting and reaffirming a collective position to reject the increment.
“We maintained our position that there will be no increment in shipping charges. There are plans for further stakeholders engagements with the shipping lines but the increments remain suspended until such proper engagement takes place. We said No!” Anifowose posited.
Also speaking, the ANLCA Tincan Chapter Chairman, Prince Olawale Cole, said freight agents have been pained in so many ways over the years about the operations of MSC.
His words: “Nobody has asked us about operational challenges that we have with these shipping companies, especially the likes of MSC. This same shipping company charges for holiday that we don’t work. MSC charges for weekends that they don’t work. This same shipping company charges while the vessels are yet to berth. They collect detention 14-21 days detention from us and they operate without having holding bays.
“They use trucks as holding bay just to extort money from us, and nobody is questioning them. At the meeting today, they boldly said that Nigeria’s Container Insurance Law doesn’t stop them from collecting container deposits. Who does that?”
Stakeholders who attended the meeting include; the Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN); Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Maritime and Freight Forwarders Unit, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), and the Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics (APFFLON).
