The Head of the Department of Shipping and Terminals at the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Mr Ukochukwu Nnadi, said the 15 per cent hike in ports tariff would lead to a rise in the cost of doing business nationwide.
“Definitely it will add to the cost of doing business because every kobo added to doing any particular thing, no matter what the thing is, will be passed to the customers, and the customers in this case are the stakeholders.
“As the NPA wants to add cost, even if it’s a kobo to their changes to the operators, it will be passed to customers sooner or later; it is as easy as that. So it is going to add to the cost of doing business,” he said.
Also speaking, the National Protocol Officer of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Riwane Amuni, said the hike in tariff would add to the cost of doing business.
He noted that the reason why operators are silent about it is because it’s been a long time since the NPA reviewed its tariffs.
“It will definitely add to the cost of doing business because it is an additional tax on the masses. But the reason people are not really talking about this is because it has been a long time since they increased tariffs. That’s why the noise is not much.
“But all things being equal, it is still an additional cost. Because all these things you are seeing, like the additional tariff or input, will tell on the customers because whatever the importers spend they will put it on the masses,” he said.
Earlier during the event with the NPA, a stakeholder, Joshua Asanga, agreed with the increase, adding that the value of NPA’s present tariff had since been suppressed by inflation
Asanga listed port management liabilities like wages, fuel, and other areas of expenditure as having adjusted upwards without a commensurate rise in NPA charges for over thirty years
However, the NPA later said the upward review would not affect item rates such as the throughput and lease fees, rents on NPA landed properties, MOWCA levy, service boat operations, and hourly towage and mooring charges.
It said port cost should not be taken for NPA charges as the port cost covers charges by other government agencies operating the port.