Nigeria’s Federal Government, through the Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC), has announced a crackdown on unregistered port service providers and is calling for their compliance by the third quarter of 2024.
Pius Akutah, the Executive Secretary of the NSC, represented by the Director of Consumer Affairs of the NSC, Cajetan Agu, made this public on Wednesday during a sensitisation programme held with stakeholders on the mandatory registration of government-regulated port service providers and users at the Council’s headquarters in Lagos.
While Akutah emphasised the importance of compliance by all port service providers, he added that it is in line with the Council’s duty as enshrined in Section 4 of the NCS’s Regulation of 2015.
The mandatory nature of registration is to be adhered to and non-compliant entities would face stern consequences, says Akutah.
Akutah disclosed that the registration was geared towards “having a database of genuine port service providers and users as well as Knowing Your Customers policy.”
The Assistant Director of Consumer Affairs of the NSC, Celestine Akujobi, added that the sanctions awaiting defaulters “include withdrawal of NSC services and restrictions on port operations. Only 185 port service providers and users have registered so far.
“Stakeholders must acquaint themselves with the online registration process to avoid penalties, the NSC added.
According to Akujobi, despite a notable uptake in registration among international service providers, “The Council is concerned with the lagging compliance among Nigerian counterparts. I want to urge stakeholders to swiftly register with the Council to capitalise on the myriad benefits associated with NSC registration,” he noted.
While this policy provides ease of transition from manual to automated systems within the Council for both local and international service providers, it also tends to address the faceless shippers and importers operating in port terminals across the country.
Read: Nigeria’s Shippers Council fixes August to begin paperless operations
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