Port task team sets new guidelines for cargo inspection

To reduce cost-incurring delay in cargo inspection at the nation’s seaports, the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) has rolled out new rules to guide the involvement of government agencies in the inspection of cargoes at the ports.

The new guideline state that containers must be positioned for examination by 8.30 am while representatives of government agencies must jointly perform inspection from 9 am to 4 pm daily, according to a memo containing the new rules titled ‘Joint examination of cargo,’ which was sighted by Ships & Ports.

BusinessDay learnt that bringing all government agencies under one umbrella to examine goods at the same time will help to reduce the rate of avoidable delays that incur costs for cargo owners, ensure efficiency by advancing Ease of Doing Business and make Nigerian ports one of the best places to do business.

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“Every authorised agency shall designate sufficient officers to simultaneously cover all examination groups at each examination bay. Failure of any agency representative other than that of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to attend joint examination shall not delay the examination and such an agency shall lose the right to examine that container,” the memo stated.

Meanwhile, Moses Fadipe, national coordinator of the National Port Process Manual (NPPM), said recently in Lagos, that the team has achieved about 80 to 85 percent success in ensuring that agencies of government abide by the rules in the marine side of port business, which is vessel examination and clearance.

On the cargo side, he said, some terminals in Lagos such as APM Terminals, ENL Consortium and Eko Support are now doing things right by adhering to the new rule of starting examination at 9 am and ending at 4 pm.

The PSTT is a creation of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Department of State Security (DSS), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The team is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that standard procedures are followed by concerned parties in carrying out transactions at the port.