The Sea Empowerment Research Centre (SEREC) has called for the immediate establishment of a shipping charges review forum following the recent shutdown of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) office in Apapa by aggrieved freight forwarders protesting increased charges.
Dr. Eugene Nweke, SEREC’s Head of Research, made the appeal in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja.
The call comes on the heels of a protest staged on Monday by members of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) and other freight forwarders.
The groups shut down operations at MSC after the shipping line raised the Import Documentation Fee from N45,000 to N58,500 for 20-foot containers, and from N72,000 to N93,600 for 40-foot containers.
Additionally, port charges were hiked from N50,000 to N80,000 for 20-foot containers and from N100,000 to N160,000 for 40-foot containers.
Reacting to the development, Nweke emphasised that the proposed forum should include regulators and stakeholders working toward a common interest.
He urged industry players to suspend street-style shutdowns and physical enforcement actions, noting that the maritime and port industry remains a critical driver of trade, revenue, and economic stability.
According to Nweke, all actions and regulatory decisions in the sector must be guided by professionalism, legality, and institutional responsibility.
He recommended the development of a national port cost benchmarking framework that would require shipping lines to provide cost-justification disclosures for any tariff adjustments.
While acknowledging that stakeholder concerns regarding arbitrary and disproportionate tariff increases are legitimate, Nweke argued that the methods adopted in prosecuting such grievances must align with modern industrial relations standards.
He warned that physical obstruction of business premises exposes practitioners to legal and reputational risks, undermining years of effort to reposition freight forwarding as a professional vocation.
He further pointed out that while service providers often cite foreign exchange volatility and energy costs as justification for hikes, these factors have recently stabilised or moderated, yet charges remain unchecked.
He noted that the cumulative effect is inflationary, bearing direct consequences for businesses, consumers, and national economic competitiveness.
Nweke attributed the recurring disputes to a systemic regulatory deficit, specifically the absence of enforceable oversight over shipping line tariffs.
He charged the economic regulator to assert its statutory mandate to enforce cost transparency, while also calling on professional regulators to sanction conduct that undermines industry credibility.