By Providence Ayanfeoluwa
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has declared that Licensed Customs Agents, LCA shall not be subjected to regulatory control of the Minister of Transporation and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding, CRFFN or required to pay fees or obtain clearance as a condition for access to ports or renewal of their licenses under Customs Act.
The suit No. FHC/CS/765/2018 which commenced at the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division, was instituted by the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, NCMDLCA against the Minister of Transportation, the Nigeria Authority, NPA and the CRFFN as defendants.
The court ruled that the Minister of Transportation lacks legal authority to issue directives regulating the business or operation of LCA, declaring null and void the directive published in the Vanguard Newspapers on August 1, 2017.
The landmark judgment delivered by Justice Daniel Osiagor, resolved that: “the regulation of LCA is governed squarely by the Customs and Excise Management Act, CEMA which provides a comprehensive legal frame for the licensing and oversight of Customs operation in Nigeria. Only the Minister of Finance, acting through the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS is statutorily authorized to regulate the business and operation of LCA.
“The Minister of Transportation is not recognized under the Customs Act as having any supervisory or regulatory role in this regard.
“Under section 4 the CRFFN is empowered to determine qualification, register freight forwarders and set standard for practice. LCA is a distinct profession from freight forwarders.
“The business and regulation of LCA fall exclusively under the Customs Act, which vests regulatory control in the Minister of Finance and NCS. The CRFFN established under the CRFFN Act 2007, is a separate regulatory body whose jurisdiction applies only to freight forwarders not LCA”
Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, President, NCMDLCA, Lucky Amiwero, described the victory as long overdue, even as he maintained that the CRFFN and the Ministry of Transportation have no statutory authority to regulate the business or operations of LCAs.
“We are not freight forwarders. We are licensed under a different law, and this judgment affirms that distinction. “Meanwhile, Registrar of CRFFN Kingsley Igwe, said that the court ruling will not prevent the Council from collecting Practitioners operating Fee, POF from customs agents.
Speaking at a press briefing in response to the judgment, Igwe said that it remains the legally empowered authority to regulate freight forwarding in Nigeria under Act No. 16 of 2007.
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