Volume of containerised cargo imported into the country through the nation’s busiest port in Apapa recorded 16.2 percent growth to 970, 000 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) between January and December 2014.
This represents 16.2 percent growth when compared to the 600, 000 TEUs handled in the comparative period of 2013.
The containerised commodities were mostly building materials, raw materials, refrigerated food items, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), among others.
Speaking at this year’s maiden stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos, Charles Edike, Customs area controller of Apapa Area 1 command, disclosed that the command also transferred a total of 40, 000 containers to bonded terminals and other off-dock facilities as part of the measures to forestall congestion of cargoes at the ports.
“We will continue with the policy of transferring containers to off-dock facilities to avoid congestion at the terminals because the revenue, which is generated from both the port and bonded terminals, goes to the Federal Government through the service from wherever it is collected. So it is in the overall interest of the nation’s economy that we will continue to transfer containers when the need arises”, he assured.
Despite the transfer of these containers, he said, the command’s revenue also grew by N71.2 billion to N301.3 billion, at the close of economic activities on December 31, 2014. This, he disclosed, was an encouraging improvement from N230.1 billion recorded in the previous year of 2013.
While commenting on the revenue generation, he said, “This command will continue to do without revenue from rice imports, which accounted for about N35 billion out of a total of N301.3 billion generated in 2014. We are optimistic that the command will do better in 2015”.
Edike, who appraised the performance of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) one year after its introduction, said that the new system has overcome its initial challenges like any other new innovation.
“PAAR has definitely outgrown its teething problems and it is now yielding positive results to the nation’s economy, and Customs from other parts of the world have been coming here to copy it,” he added.
The Customs boss further reveals: “PAAR has brought succour to the agents and has also helped the service to build capacity, as officers and men are trained and re-trained on PAAR administration and procedures.”
He, however, assured that the service would continue to strengthen the administration of PAAR in order to boost the nation’s import and export revenue, especially given the dwindling oil revenue occasioned by the decline in crude oil price at the global market, which has negatively affected most oil exporting nation’s including Nigeria.
The government, according to him, is focusing attention on non-oil revenue as part of measures to cushion the effects of the dwindling oil revenue, which has remained the mainstay of the nation’s economy.
Kris Keme of the Shippers Association of Lagos State, who commended the service for the progress made in the administration of the PAAR regime, also called on Customs to eliminate all encumbrances to free flow of trade across the international frontiers through the introduction of global best practices such as automation of clearing process.
He particularly frowned at the delay suffered by already cleared consignments at the various port exits in the country, insisting that as soon as a consignment is cleared, it must also be allowed to exit the port gates to avoid further delays.
He also decried the poor state of the port access roads, which he argued does not facilitate trade.
