Determined to facilitate trade in the nation’s seaport, the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), has reconstituted its 100% Compliance Task Team to become more effective in delivering its mandates.
Speaking at the inauguration held in Lagos recently, Tochukwu Ezisi, the national president of NAGAFF, said that in the last three years of its existence, the 100% Compliance Team had been active in checking corruption at the ports by ensuring that ideal Customs and trade procedures are practiced at the port terminals, boarder stations and bonded facilities across the country.
He said the team, which was constituted in 2020, was empowered to ensure that importers, freight forwarders, Customs officers, shipping companies, and terminal operators comply with good practices at the port.
“Other reasons for setting up the team include putting an end to excessive sampling of imported products by agencies at the port and bringing about a permanent solution to the traffic gridlock at the port,” he said.
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According to him, the name of the team has been changed from 100% Compliance Team to 100% Compliance Task Team to reorder the team in line with the vision of NAGAFF’s high command.
He said the body reconstituted the operational structure of the team to ensure effective delivery of the core mandates of the team.
“The reconstituted team now has 15-member nonresident intervention committee that automatically replaced all existing compliance team at the chapters. Their role will be on ad hoc bases at the instance of the national president, upon written request by the chapter chairman. The committee shall be resident only at bonded terminals and not at the port terminals,” he explained.
He said the body also constituted a Trade Facilitation Committee whose responsibility shall in no way interfere with that of the intervention committee.
“The primary aim for the reconstitution is to achieve a strong synergy between the national and chapter chairmen, and to build a strong working relationship among all stakeholders at the chapter and national level,” he added
