A study
by the leading accounting firm, Akintola Williams Deloitte, has revealed that
the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) is responsible for about 82.1 port charges
incurred by consignees in the nation's ports.
The
firm, it was learnt, had concluded that the financial implication of
the various charges on an imported laden 20 feet container
shipped from China and delivered to the consignee's warehouse in Nigeria
amounted to N6.5 million, under the "best case with demurrage as 15
days".
Established
by the doyen of the accountancy profession, Mr. Akintola Williams, Akintola
Williams Deloitte started off as Akintola Williams & Co in 1952. Its
mergers with existing accounting firms
has resulted in its being the largest professional services firm in Nigeria.
Adopting the business name Akintola Williams Deloitte on July 30, 2004,
Akintola Williams Deloitte is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
(DTTL).
The
firm's study of the Nigerian ports stated: "Assuming a 20 feet
container with goods worth N44.42 million ($100,000), the analysis show that
82.1 per cent of the cost to consignees are made to the Customs as import duty,
13.8 per cent to the shipping companies as freight charges, and only 1.8 per
cent paid to terminal operators.
"The
challenges faced at the ports are mostly borne by the terminal operators who
invest heavily into the ports yet earn little relative to the size of the
investments made."
The
study had categorized the services in the cargo shipping, delivery, and
clearing processes into three, namely marine services, port services,
and logistics services.
Marine
services include marine transport and port navigational services; port services
are container handling and storage services, as well as container examination
services; and logistics services, inland transport.
Industry
players and their respective services were identified thus: shipping lines and
the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), rendering marine transport and port
navigational services under marine services.
Port
services, according to the study, have terminal operators providing container
handling and storage services, and the Customs Service, container
examination services.
Trucking
companies were identified by the study as providers of logistics services.
Consequently,
the study broke down the N6.5 million total cost thus: 13.8 per cent incurred
on marine fees, including freight charges to the shipping line at $2,000.00,
refundable container deposit fees, and varying demurrage charges; and port
fees incurred at 1.8 per cent and 82.1 per cent, respectively, on
terminal operators and the Customs.
The
study explained that the 1.8 per cent earned by terminal operators came from
terminal handling charges at n80,000 ($180), varying storage, Customs
examination charges at N27,000 ($61), delivery charges at N5,500 ($12),
and stevedoring charged to the shipping line.
The
82.1 per cent the Customs raked in came from import duty at one per cent, one
per cent Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme (CISS) surcharge, seven per
cent Port Development Levy surcharge on import duty, 0.5 per cent ECOWAS Trade
Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS) surcharge, and five per cent Value Added Tax
(VAT).
Logistics
services took 2.3 per cent of the N6.5 million, with road haulage earning 1.1
per cent of the 2.3 per cent or N70,000 ($158); and the remaining 1.2 per cent
of the 2.3 per cent or N80,000 ($180) was recorded as clearing fees earned by
the Customs agent.
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