Customs brokers claim importers face N100,000 in daily detention fees due to congestion at Nigerian ports.

Importers and clearing agents are sounding the alarm over escalating demurrage costs at Nigerian seaports, attributing the issue to delays connected to the National Single Window platform, which they claim is prolonging cargo clearance processes.

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The National President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, NCMDLCA, Lucky Amiwero, has joined other customs agents in alleging that some importers are now being forced to pay as much as N100,000 daily in demurrage to shipping companies and terminal operators while awaiting approvals from regulatory agencies.

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Amiwero has described the National Single Window platform as ineffective, contending that it has actually complicated port operations rather than streamlining them, and that delays in obtaining approvals from agencies such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria have exacerbated congestion and increased the cost of doing business.

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According to Amiwero, the current structure of the National Single Window falls short of the globally accepted model of a true single-window platform, which he believes should involve single administration, single transaction, and single delivery, allowing for seamless cargo clearance once processes are harmonised at the backend.

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Amiwero has argued that the National Single Window platform is more akin to a multiple-window system that duplicates Customs functions, with importers still required to interact separately with agencies like NAFDAC and SON, thereby defeating the purpose of a single-window system.

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The Nigerian Revenue Service, which is driving the National Single Window initiative, lacks the necessary expertise in customs and import procedures, Amiwero has alleged, insisting that tax administration and customs operations should remain separate entities.

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Consignments are often trapped at terminals for weeks due to delays in approvals and documentation processing, resulting in substantial financial losses for importers, with some importers paying close to N100,000 daily in demurrage because their cargoes remain uncleared for two or three weeks.

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Amiwero has called on the government to review the system and properly harmonise the process, citing the need for urgent action to address the issues plaguing the National Single Window platform.

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In response to the allegations, the Director of Communications for NSW, Tola Fakolade, has stated that criticisms of the platform largely stem from resistance to stricter compliance procedures introduced under the system, and that the first phase of the initiative was never designed to guarantee one-day approvals for all regulatory processes.

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Fakolade has clarified that the National Single Window platform was intended to provide a unified entry point where importers and stakeholders can process documentation seamlessly without moving from one agency office to another, and has acknowledged existing implementation challenges, particularly inherited backlogs within some agencies.

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According to Fakolade, efforts are ongoing to resolve the implementation challenges, including the backlog of pending applications at NAFDAC, which was inherited by the National Single Window platform, and the agency is working to clear the pending applications and address the delays being experienced.