Shippers call for stoppage of groupage containers excessive charges

Rev. Jonathan Nicole, President, Shippers Association of Lagos (SAL), on Saturday in Lagos, called for the stoppage of groupage containers excessive charges in Nigeria.
Nicole in a statement signed by him noted that Groupage shipment was one aspect through which Nigerian Shippers and importers are being ripped off.
According to him, the shipping lines agents in Nigeria are academical in handling of Groupage Containers.
He described the word Groupage as when two or three consignees or more put in their cargo into a 1×20′ or 1×40′ Container as Full Container Load (FCL) and freight charges are paid fully from Port of Loading to Port of Destination in foreign currency.
“No hidden charges are transferred to the consignee whether or not there is trans-shipment from another port during transit.
“On arrival, the Shipping Lines agents notifies the consignees who has the original House Bill Ladings indicating their own cargo to come and pick up their cargo after unstuffing.
“ In some cases, the local receiving agency delays in receiving the containers for up to one or two months. After receiving the containers and unstuffing at their warehouse, the consignees are informed to come and pick their cargo.
“ Within this period, the local agent puts in a lot of charges against the consignees far and above the cost of the cargo. It is even cheaper to clear the container direct if all the consignees agree,” he said.
He noted that the Master Bill Lading was normally consigned to the ship’s local agent while the House Bill Ladings shows owners of each cargo in the container.
He added that there are more Groupage issues mainly from the Chinese Shipping agencies handling Groupage Containers in Nigeria.
He said that some of these issues had made the Nigerian Shippers’ Council recently to wade into the shippers complaints after one and half years of economic torture from the same company.
“It is therefore necessary to peg charges on Groupage Containers in Nigeria.
“Most successful big Importers today started with Groupage shipments. Then, Nigerian Ports Authority had warehouses inside the ports and containers are moved direct from the ship or stacking areas to the warehouses for unstuffing.
“We really do not understand why it takes three months to move groupage containers from the ports for unstuffing and nobody pays the Importers for delays,” he said.
Nicole noted that there are no aspect of clearance of Groupage containers to attract additional cost to be paid in foreign currency, adding that it should stop.
The shippers boss said that on storage charges, the bills must be commensurate with the number of days the cargo was stuffed in the warehouse and not the arrival date of the vessel.
He added that consignee should not be subjected to excessive transfer charges from the designated port to the receiving warehouses as all charges relating to the shipment of the cargo were paid upfront before shipment
“In considering the difficulties in Nigeria clearing systems, simplified methods must be put in place to curtail excessive charges on Shippers. Additional cost paid in foreign currency in Nigeria can be termed as capital flight.
“Freight collect cargoes are normally paid in Nigerian currencies at the official bank rate if evidence is produced. Such cargo will not be released to the owner until the freight has been paid. Outside of that, it is a sin to rip off the shippers.
“This issue must be dealt with in a forum for discussion with some of the Groupage operators in Nigeria, the Nigerian Shippers Council and the Shippers and Importers.
“Alternatively, Importers should be paying Freight charges in Nigeria Currency to Ship owners. We have a right to protect our sovereignty. Afterall, we are one big farm,” he said.