During the recently held virtual meeting, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele disclosed that it has been discovered that many shipping companies do not comply with the Federal Governement directives that shipments carry Nigerian Export Proceeds (NXP) number. He therefore stated that exporters who ship out goods without NXP numbers will henceforth be sanctioned.
In reaction to this development, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hassan Bello said that the Council in partnership with the CBN has carried out three sensitization meetings in Lagos and Port-Harcourt to educate shipping companies and exporters on the need to implement the directive on the NXP.
In a statement issued by the Head, Public Relations of Shippers’ Council, Rakiya Zubairu, Bello pointed out that the NSC would work with other agencies of governement to ensure full compliance, so that export without the NXP is discontinued.
The CBN Governor stated: “We are going to set up an auto system, where if someone wants to send cargo, copies of the NXP form will be sent directly to you. So, that if you don’t have it online on your system where the NXP has been registered, you turn back that cargo.
“You cannot accept any number and use it as a basis for shipping. We are not going to allow that. That is not acceptable. If you don’t see the NXP Forms, that cargo should be turned back.”
The Managing Director, MSC Nigeria Limited, Andrew Lynch, stated during the virtuall meeting that his company receives NXP Forms on all major agro-commodities like cashew, cocoa and sesame, but not for commodities like charcoal and timber.
According to him, they have found out that these items do not have NXP Forms after they have already arrived at the port and once cargo gets to the port and has gotten clearance from the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS), there is pressure due to space constraints at the port to ship immediately. He added that one of their challenges also lies in their inability to verify the autheticity of an NXP Form.
The Managing Director, Grimaldi Nigeria Ltd, Ascanio Russo, stated on the other hand that in addition to not being able to verify the authenticity of the NXP Form, his company is unable to access CBN’s online portal.
Emefiele then promised that a circular outlinig the procedure would be sent out to the shipping lines and other relevant agencies like the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Ministry of Finance, Nigerian Customs Services and the security agencies.
