Poor shipping regulation threatens Customs reforms — SEREC

The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has warned that weak regulation of shipping lines could undermine the credibility and effectiveness of ongoing reforms at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

SEREC’s Head of Research, Dr Eugene Nweke, raised the concern on Wednesday while speaking with journalists in Abuja, stressing that customs efficiency is closely tied to the performance of Nigeria’s broader maritime and trade ecosystem.

Nweke described the NCS as central to the success of the National Single Window (NSW), particularly its risk-based clearance and trade facilitation reforms.

However, he warned that gains recorded by Customs could be eroded by poor upstream practices within the shipping sector.

“Customs efficiency gains are systematically eroded when upstream shipping practices introduce artificial delays, speculative charges, remote cargo release approvals and opaque cost structures,” he said.

“Weak regulation of shipping line conduct externalises inefficiencies into the Customs clearance process, inflates transaction costs, distorts compliance behaviour and undermines the credibility of customs-led trade reforms.”

He disclosed that SEREC had submitted a white paper to the Federal Government, calling for shipping line governance, port economic regulation and customs trade administration to be treated as inseparable policy areas.

According to him, the document was also forwarded to the National Assembly, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and other key industry stakeholders.

The white paper identified several sharp practices in Nigeria’s shipping and ports sector, including prolonged withholding of refunds, remote cargo release authorisation, speculative or projected demurrage billing, unauthorised container diversion and arbitrary charges without clear cost justification.

Nweke noted that Nigeria’s port challenges were not driven by infrastructure alone but were largely governance-related.

He warned that weak regulation, absence of oversight reports and unchecked discretion in digital systems such as the NSW could undermine the country’s reform agenda.

Among its recommendations, SEREC called for the public release of committee findings, statutory timelines for refunds with penalties for default, a ban on speculative demurrage billing, mandatory local cargo release procedures and full alignment of shipping practices with the National Single Window.

He explained that the objective of the white paper was to draw attention to sharp practices and regulatory weaknesses that had evolved from operational inconveniences into macroeconomic and governance risks.

“For NCS trade reforms to deliver their full impact in 2026 and beyond, shipping practices must align with the same principles guiding Customs modernisation — transparency, predictability, automation, accountability and local control,” Nweke said.

He added that the white paper was intended to support, not oppose, government reform objectives and to strengthen customs-led trade facilitation in line with Nigeria’s economic ambitions.

Looking ahead to 2026, Nweke said stakeholders in the maritime industry hoped for a transition from opaque and arbitrary port operations to a transparent, rules-based system driven by digital technology and international best practices.

He stressed that achieving this shift would require an enabling environment provided by government, strict enforcement of existing regulations, predictable costs, transparent billing, time-bound cargo release and institutional accountability.

“The expectation is not the creation of new laws, but disciplined enforcement of existing instruments, public disclosure of regulatory outcomes, and insulation of regulators from political and commercial capture,” he said.