The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Jime has launched an online portal for registration of port service providers and users.
Jime who launched the online portal on Friday at the Shippers’Council towers in Lagos said the portal is a departure from manual registration of port service providers to a fully automated platform.
According to him, the portal is ostensibly aimed at having accurate data of port users and stakeholders and to help nip the problem of influx of unwanted persons in the port environment.
“The platform we are launching is interactive in nature as physical interface is eliminated.
From your desk in your office, you can register your company online without having to visit any Shippers’ Council office as long as you fulfil the requirements and make the necessary payments.”
“The registration exercise is in various categories and attracts a token fee as the motive is not to generate revenue. It is mandatory for all service providers and users to register and obtain a certificate of registration before they can be adjudged as legally operating at the nation’s seaports. It is therefore important to register with the NSC to avoid applicable sanctions,” the NSC boss said.
Jime added that the new platform guarantees a safe and secure business environment even as it eliminates the challenges of faceless stakeholders in the port system.
Also speaking, the Director of Consumer Affairs, NSC, Chief Cajetan Agu observed that one of the responsibilities placed on NSC when it became the nation’s port economic regulator in 2014 was the obligation to register all port operators and port users.
“NSC offers a lot of services around training, education and capacity building programmes. The only people who will benefit from these services will be those who are registered with NSC,” Agu remarked.
Chief Agu equally described the online registration as an Know-Your-Customer (KYC) function of the Council, stressing that the era of faceless shippers, untraceable freight forwarders and other hidden service providers have ended.
He also posited that the Complaints Unit of NSC which attends to stakeholders’ challenges in port business and arbitration services by the Council will henceforth only be available to operators and port users registered with the Council.
The event also featured a step-by-step demonstration on how to register with NSC via the online portal, while the Executive Secretary of NSC, Hon. Jime also unveiled the User Guide for the service which was shared to all participant
By Ajibola Adedoye