Exporters have bemoaned that the terminals have added additional costs to what they already had, months after the administration of the Nigerian Ports Authority approved export processing facilities to promote agricultural exports.
The Punch reported that to increase the country’s agro-export, the NPA approved five export-processing terminals in 2022.
At the public presentation of export processing terminal licenses in Lagos, the managing director and chief executive officer of NPA, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, explained that movement of agro-export boxes arriving at the ports from Lagos & Ogun states shall only be allowed into the ports from any of the five EPT.
Bello-Koko, who was represented by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Mr. Onari Brown, stated that the authority is committed to receiving export containers arriving from the Domestic Export Warehouses located across the country, subject to compliance with the traffic management put in place by the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority.
However, the Chief Executive Officer of LWL Concept, Mr. Wasiu Lawal, stated that the terminal will come at an additional cost to the exporters.
“We pay N34,600 to utilize the ETP, and if you miss your ships and want to validate, you must pay the shipping firm an additional N30,000.
However, up to this point, we have just had to pay the terminal fee of N65 000 and the local fee of N35 000. He added, “You can see that the material is arriving at an additional cost, which makes the goods an extra expense to us. We still pay for those things, including the new ETP amount.”
According to him, the cost of using EPT varies depending on which one you choose.
Lawal added that because of the current circumstances, Nigerian exports find it challenging to compete favourably on the international market because their prices are always higher due to the extra charges they pay here.
But he demanded more ETPs, stating that the ones that are already in place cannot handle the number of exports.
He stated, “We require more government initiatives and less expensive exports. The current terminals are too crowded, so we need more. As of now, it has both positive and negative impacts because, without these terminals, the situation can get worse.
“We require more of these facilities because they may increase exports and foster bilateral ties between Nigeria and other nations,” the official said.
The chief executive officer of Femat International Services Nigeria Limited, Mr. Olabanji Olufemi, encouraged the appropriate authorities to look into the double payment that exporters experience when using the facilities.
Olufemi, who also serves as the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents’ Lilypond Chapter Chairman, stated, “We pay double; they should do something about it.”
