Shippers Council Transitions to Fully Automated Registration Portal

…Unveils user manual to stakeholders

Esther Oluku

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has transitioned from it’s hitherto manual method of registration and onboarding of port service providers and users to a fully automated platform.

Making the disclosure and presentation of the platform to stakeholders and journalists in Lagos yesterday, the Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr. Emmanuel Jime, said that the newly launched platform would help in minimizing human interface in the onboarding process and make for flexibility of engagement for stakeholders in a rapidly evolving Maritime space.

While noting that the meeting was a veritable platform for stakeholders’ education on the workings of the Council, the ES urged all and sundry to embrace the new development with it’s inherent benefits while bearing in mind that defaulters would face applicable sanctions

His words: “This is one of the series of sensitization seminars that the Council organized for service providers, users and other stakeholders in the sector on the need to register with the Council and benefits to be derived from the registration.

“Today marks a milestone as we upgrade from manual registration to a fully automated registration platform. 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 Council office as long as you fulfill the requirements and make the necessary payments.”

He further stated that as the Port Economic Regulator, the token fee that would be required for registration for the various categories of users is not engineered by a profit motive but rather to enable the council maintain the database of port users and service providers to make for efficiency.

“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.

“Registration provides the Economic Regulator a database of service providers that are genuine as well as shippers and other stakeholders operating in our port system. This will enable the industry to operate in a safe and secure business environment and eliminate the challenges of faceless stakeholders in the port system,” he said.

Fielding questions from attendees present, Director, Consumer Affairs Department, NSC, Mr. Cajetan Agu, stated that the former manual certificate possessed by many stakeholders would still serve as tender until it’s stipulated expiry date after which stakeholders would have to update their registration online.

He further explained that registration with the NSC implies compliance with extant laws and is a platform for the Council to have a comprehensive data of it’s stakeholders.

“Registering with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council means compliance with the law. There is a provision that states that if you have to provide services at the Port, you must register with the NSC. As a regulator, we are supposed to know our stakeholders. In the past we used to hear of some faceless shippers. With registration, the issue of faceless shippers would have been taken care of.

“If you look at the manual certificate that was given, there is an expiry date on it. You would have to wait until that certificate expires before you can renew it and you do not have to come to Shippers’ Council,” he said.