Shippers’ Council begins cargo tracking Source: The Nation Date: December 25, 2015

Shippers' Council begins cargo tracking
Source: The Nation
Date: December 25, 2015
Determined to check sharp practices, the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has opted for International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) with a yearly revenue target of about N17,238,054,156.84 ($87,060,879.58).
The new tracking policy, which will also assist the nation to ascertain goods being brought into the country, will be implemented in collaboration with Messrs Transport and Port Management System (TPMS) Nigeria Limited.
The document reads : "Based on the 2014 NPA operational cargo throughput (statistics), the sum of N17,238,054,156.84 ($87,060,879.58) is estimated to be the ICTN scheme proceeds to be generated at the current rate of the scheme's applicable token administrative fee for different cargo types.
"All Cargoes destined for or departing from Nigerian Ports (Import/Export/Transit) shall obtain from Nigerian Shippers' Council an Entry Summary Number (ENS) – in case of import to Nigeria – or an Exit Summary Number (EXS) – in case of Export departing from Nigeria. The ENS or EXS must show on the Bill of Lading and final manifest of the vessel.
"The shipper of the cargo is the person responsible for the declaration procedure in advance with information relating to the cargo. The procedure must ensure that the said declaration is correctly made.

"In the case of a Chartered vessel, the Advanced Cargo Declaration (ACD) shall be completed by the Chartered who issues the Bill of Lading and not by the company owning the vessel."
The breakdown of the projected revenue is as follows: Containerised Cargo (N5,263, 731,000); Ro-Ro Cargo (N491, 047,920:00); General Cargo (N5,736,444,912:00); Bulk Cargo (N2,282,225,580:36) and Crude Oil Export (N3,464, 604,744.48).
The Ministry of Transport on May 14 conveyed a presidential approval for the ICTN to the Nigerian Shippers Council(NSC), the scheme is yet to take effect.
The document said: "Please recall that following the presidential approval to the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMOT) for the re-introduction of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN) scheme and the implementation of the scheme by Nigerian Shippers' Council – being the Interim Economic Regulator of the port sector in Nigeria, as conveyed to the council by the Director (Maritime Services) vide a letter Ref. T.0160/S.30/T4C dated 14th May, 2015, the Hon. Minister of Transport, in line with the presidential approval, requested Nigerian Shippers' Council to work out/negotiate the Terms and conditions of the implementation contract of the scheme with Messrs Transport and Port Management System (TPMS) Nigeria Limited, as the technical implementation agents, and enter into an agreement with them in that regard.
"Accordingly, I wish to report that the Council has meticulously negotiated and executed an agreement with TPMS Nigeria Limited.
"A copy of the Agreement is hereby attached for information and record. As a first towards consummating the Agreement, the web based IT platform for the implementation of the ICTN scheme was rolled out by TPMS Nigeria Limited on Wednesday 29th July, 2015. The platform can be accessed, for guidance on compliance procedure and for general information, through the internet site www.acdnigeria.com.
The document expalined how the new ICTN is different from the old ways of monitoring cargoes.
It claimed that the ICTN has four distinct features from the previous tracking device.
It added: "It is noteworthy that, as can be seen from the agreement, four important features distinguish the current ICTN Scheme from the abolished version. These are:
The current scheme will be implemented at no cost to the shipper/consignee, at all. The current scheme is web based and therefore paperless. Thus the delay associated with obtaining Cargo Tracking Note and associated documentation by Shippers, under the abolished version of the scheme, is completely eliminated as the shipper needs not do anything apart from declaring in advance (i.e. at the loading port), information relating to the cargo.
The one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) per container CTN fee charged under the abolished version, paid by the shippers, which led to the stakeholders vehement protest against the scheme and its eventual abolishment was radically modified and reduced to a token administrative fee of twenty five dollars ($25) per container thereby making it the lowest in our West and Central African Sub-region. This became necessary not only in view of Nigeria's volume of trade but also to substantially downplay the insinuated revenue generation motive of the old version of the scheme in favour of the actual and more important Trader Information Generation motive which has tremendous potential to impact positively on the nation's effort in Trade Facilitation, National Planning and National Security;
The NSC-TPMS Sharing Ration of the collectible Administrative fee was negotiated and reviewed from 60-40, under the abolished scheme, to 65-35 thereby raising the share accruable to the government.
All vessels loading and unloading or in transit (Export/Import and Transit) departing from Nigeria Ports or having Nigerian Ports as final destination or transiting through Nigerian ports shall, before any movement, obtain a Movement Reference Number (MRN). The MRN will be allocated to the vessels by Nigerian Shippers' Council irrespective of the origin of the vessel of cargoes.

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This is to notify all CARRIERS & SHIPPERS that the 2 weeks grace period ends on the 17th of November, 2015. It is therefore mandatory that all vessels and shipments heading for any the Nigerian Ports to acquire the MRN (CARRIERS, CHARTERERS OR SHIP OWNERS) and ENS (SHIPPERS OR FREIGHT (...)
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