Freight forwarders seek review of operation fee

The Africa Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) has called for the review of the act establishing the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) on the Practitioners Operation Fee (POF).

The National President of APFFLON, Frank Ogunojemite, made the call in his congratulatory message to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on the successful inauguration of the CRFFN Governing Board.

He said since there was no provision of the POF in the CRFFN Act, the supervisory ministry should make sure its directives are in line with the provisions of the act to avert a crisis in the subsector.

Recall that the Federal Government had recently threatened to sanction terminal operators that have failed to key into the policy regarding the collection of POF while giving them two months to integrate the collection into their platform.

According to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, the country is losing much revenue to the non-collection of POF. He noted that integrating the policy will promote global competitiveness and build capacity for effective participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Speaking on the inauguration of the CRFFN board, Ogunojemite expressed optimism that the new members would not rubbish the essence of the board while tasking them with selfless and responsive representation.

“The new Board members were elected in March 2022, after a protracted impasse triggered by the proposed 6:6:1:1:1 representation formula. However, the formula was set aside by the Supervisory ministry as the election was made open to allow for independent candidacy,” he said.

He further advised the new members to professionally and dispassionately chart a new course for the freight forwarding subsector, while using the available opportunity to unify the practitioners regardless of the associations they belong to.