Dr Boniface niebonam with NAGAFF officials
The founder of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Dr Boniface Aniebonam has advocated for the return of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to the nation’s seaports.
He stated this when the Executive members of Maritime Correspondents Organization of Nigeria (MARCON) paid him an official visit at NAGAFF Village in Apapa recently.
“The delay in the clearance of cargoes in our seaports is worrisome, especially as SON is on-line with customs formations and in accordance with their constitutional duties, they would want to ensure a total compliance with standard regulations on certain products,” Aniebonam said.
He said this has led to a situation whereby thousands of consignments are trapped at the seaports by SON officers when their attention is drawn to certain issues in the course of checks by customs, hence the need to engage them fully in the inspection of consignments at the ports at the initial stage.
According to him, the importance of SON at the ports cannot be underestimated, especially as a major player in e-commerce with the customs operations, because there is no way an agent could open Form M without adherence to values and standards, hence producing a certificate before securing PAAR notice by the agents.
Aniebonam stated that there is no way you importers could clear their cargoes in 48 hours in the absence of SON, adding that it now takes up to two weeks to do so.
Freight Forwarders want SON back at seaports
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