MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF NIGERIAN SHIPPERS’ COUNCIL SINCE ESTABLISHMENT.

            MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON LOCAL SHIPPING CHARGES
Before 1999, there were more than 22 types of charges Nigerian Shippers paid as local shipping charges. These were reduced to 6 and the government of the day, being a military one, attempted to implement the new charges by executive fiat. This led to disagreement and litigation.

With the advent of the civilian administration in 1999, a constructive engagement approach was adopted. Progress was made towards resolving the lingering disagreement between shippers and shipping companies over the issue of local shipping charges. All parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and all litigations were withdrawn.

The Council has continued to monitor the adherence to the MOU and acts in constructive manner to bring any breaches to the attention of the offending party/parties for correction.

            ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERATION OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS OF NIGERIA (FFFN)
Council has vigorously pursued the standardization of freight forwarding practice in Nigeria by facilitating a bill on the Federation of Freight Forwarders of Nigeria. Currently the Bill has been passed into an Act, which will enable them to be affiliated to the International Federation of Freight Forwarders (IFFF). This will uplift the quality and standard of service delivery of the freight forwarders.

            DOMESTICATION OF INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

The Council is spearheading the domestication of relevant international conventions like the Hague, Hague-Visby and the Hamburg rules on the maritime industry and the carriage of goods by sea and any other convention that relates to International Trade.

In addition, the new draft transport instrument by the United Nations Organization under the auspices of Comitél Maritime International (CMI) and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is currently under review by a committee of experts in which Nigerian Shippers’ Council is a full participant.

            HYDRO CARBON  -FREE JUTE BAGS FOR EXPORTERS
A new rule requiring the use of hydro–carbon free jute bags for packaging for export came into effect from 1st October 1999. The Council intervened on behalf of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria to iron out the general problems associated with complying with the use of the hydrocarbon free jute bags for packaging of cocoa for export. This intervention led to the approval by the Federal Government of an import duty waiver to enable cocoa exporters import the jute bags to meet the deadline and this saved Nigeria’s cocoa trade from collapse.

            SHIPPERS REGISTRATION SCHEME:
The Council continues the above voluntary registration scheme which seeks to document all shippers in the country in order to establish an authentic Directory of Shippers. This dynamic shippers’ database is a useful tool for both local and international businesses.

As part of this Scheme and as a support service to shippers, several relevant trades and shipping information are sent to our registered shippers. 

The scheme has been hampered by its voluntary nature.

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