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•Say N900bn lost annually
By Steve Agbota
Stakeholders in the nation’s maritime industry have revealed that the delay in the implementation of International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) is fueling illegal importation of firearms, hard drugs and illicit trade in the ports.
However, the Federal Government’s failure to implement the ICTN, a tool for combating smuggling, under-declaration of cargo and illicit trade, has continued to cost the country about N900 billion yearly revenue loss from smuggling, under-declaration and procedural delays. Daily Sun learnt that the ICTN Bill has been passed by both chambers of the National Assembly and currently sitting on the president’s table awaiting assent.
The absence of a fully operational technology to monitor and track cargo movements and combat illicit trade has exposed Nigeria to significant economic and security risks, with exacerbated smuggling and trafficking of dangerous goods.
Stakeholders who spoke with Daily Sun said that non-compliant importers and cartels thrive in these gaps, engaging in illegal trade activities that cost the economy billions while tarnishing Nigeria’s global reputation.
The Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr Pius Akutah, said that the Council has embarked on initiatives that will improve the nation’s maritime sector as the Port Economic Regulator.
He said one of the initiatives is the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN), which will improve cargo monitoring and transparency within the logistics chain, saying the initiative has a complicated history in Nigeria, with previous attempts at implementation not succeeding.
“This time around, the Minister is determined to ensure that the system is implemented properly and in a manner that benefits the country. The ICTN will enhance cargo monitoring, improve transparency in trade transactions, and strengthen regulatory oversight,” he said.
However, stakeholders who spoke with Daily Sun said that there is a high-level power tussle, corruption scandals, and unhealthy rivalries between government ministries and agencies who ought to foster the initiative to full performance.
According to an importer, Adekunle Ogunjimi, said that smuggling and underreporting of cargo have created loopholes in duty and tax collections, leading to billions in uncollected revenue, just as the lack of transparency in cargo handling has hurt Nigeria’s standing as a reliable trade partner.
He said that the frequent entry of contraband, arms, hard drugs and other illicit goods compromises national security, adding that ICTN is a trade facilitation tool that enhances transparency, strengthens port security, reduces demurrage, enables pre-arrival cargo processing, and seals key revenue leakages that currently undermine Nigeria’s maritime economy.
“The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), supervised by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, is the lead agency mandated to deploy the ICTN, working in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, and NIMASA. Despite approval by the Federal Executive Council in 2023, he said the system has not yet been implemented.
“Failure to put this pre-verification system in place, Nigeria’s trade regulators will continue operating reactively, allowing room for cargo concealment, under-declaration and falsified manifests. The continuous delay is causing revenue losses estimated at N900 billion annually, driven by non-standardised declarations and concealed shipments.
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Meanwhile, a maritime lecturer and expert, Charles Okerefe, said that this issue of Cargo Tracking Note has been there for a long time, and it ought to have been implemented by now.
“I don’t know why the Shippers’ Council in particular, because they are the people who are supposed to implement that policy. So I don’t know why it is coming and going. Now I think it is coming up again, because I think last week I heard the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy talking about reviving the Cargo Tracking Note.
“I think it’s something that if they put their mind to it, they can do it. It’s not a bad system, because what it simply means is trying to track cargo from the point of shipment until it gets to the point of delivery. And what that means is that whatever is being shipped, there is a notification on what items are being shipped.
“So they are easily tracked until they get here. Just like you notice from time to time, Customs will be arresting smuggled goods and getting goods smuggled into the ports, arrested and all of that. In Cargo Tracking Note, we have to eliminate such eventualities,” he said.
However, he said that the implementation of the cargo tracking note is overdue, saying that if they are going to actualise the implementation, it is a work of development.
“So they should try and implement it, and not just mouth it. They’ve been mouthing it for too long,” he said.
Gbenga Leke Oyewole, a seasoned maritime security expert and former Senior Special Assistant on Maritime Services to ex-President Goodluck, said it is expedient that the nation continues to work on the best ways forward to track what comes in and what leaves the country.
“The way to do it, or the way we have been trying to do it, may not be the right way all this time. For example, I start by using the Shippers’ Council as an example, not the Executive Secretary, but the agency itself. What the Shippers Council is doing with the ICTN is to validate what NPA, NIMASA, and the Customs are doing. Those do not see themselves as equal to the Shippers Council. They are both agencies of the federal government with mandates from the National Assembly.
“It’s like road safety or civil defence wanting to go and probe the Navy. They will never have a headway. But again, away from that particular matter, don’t forget the issue of the single window. The single window is also targeting to create wholeness in what comes in and what leaves the country. At the same time, we have the pre-inspection agents in Nigeria and internationally, all of them targeting the same wholeness in this same process. So, it will all amount to sabotage at the end of the day between these agencies.
“Look at the Ministry of Trade. They undertake agreements and procedures. They are working with the pre-inspection agents everywhere. And everybody wants to believe that their record is correct. The Customs will say, well, they are the ones at the ports managing what comes in, controlling what goes out. And they don’t want to hear from any other person. You see, this interagency collaboration is principal in anything the country wants to do,” he explained.
He said as long as these problems linger, Nigeria will continue to lose, saying the N900 billion annual losses are not the tip of the iceberg because there could be more or less.
He said what they need to do is call the relevant agencies of government and automate the process in a way that no agency will need to speak with another agency to get certain things done.
He added that it’s important that the government ensure that they capture everything that comes in and what leaves the country, saying it needs to be properly trashed without losing any money.
