By Chidi Anthony Opara, RFF, FIIM, CDOA
In his response to a Lagos federal high court pronouncement of 26th May, 2025 to the effect that it is illegal for the Council For The Regulation Of Freight Forwarding In Nigeria (CRFFN) to collect Practitioners Operating Fees(POF) from Customs Licensed Agents, the CRFFN Registrar, Mr. Kingsley Igwe, quoting Section 106, subsection 4, of the Nigeria Customs Service act said that “a customs representative, if you like, a customs licensed agent, shall be a freight forwarder and shall be subject to the regulations and code of conduct of the freight forwarding profession in Nigeria.”From the above referenced statement of the CRFFN helmsman, it can be deduced that the head of the freight forwarding regulatory agency in Nigeria sees no distinction between a Customs Licensed Agent and a Customs Representative.
This ignorance is equally widespread in the Maritime and Aviation sectors and in the freight forwarding subsector.A Customs Licensed Agent is a limited liability company, with a stipulated amount of share capital, who applied for and was granted license by the Nigeria Customs Service, renewable at a stipulated time.As a licensee of the Nigeria Customs Service, the Licensed Customs Agent acts as a liaison between the Nigeria Customs Service and importers/exporters at Customs ports and at other designated Customs areas.The Customs agent must submit to international trade rules and regulations issued from time to time by the Nigeria Customs Service.The Customs Representative on the other hand, is a natural person, who must be knowledgeable in Nigeria Customs Service processes as they relate to international trade, employed by the Licensed Customs Agent to act as its liaison with the Nigeria Customs Service.
At the time of applying for Customs license, the prospective Customs Licensed Agent must provide the personal data of its Customs Representative, especially as it concerns his/her knowledge of Customs processes.The Nigeria Customs Service would then examine the character and knowledge of the individual put forward by a prospective Licensed Customs Agent as its Customs Representative. It is on the basis of the character and knowledge of the Customs Representative that the Customs license would be issued or not be issued.If issued, the Nigeria Customs Service will also hold the Customs Representative responsible for any violations of the rules upon which the license was issued. Noteworthy is the fact that if the Customs Representative leaves the employment of the the Licensed Customs Agent or if his/her services got terminated, it would be obligatory on the part of the Licensed Customs Agent to inform the Nigeria Customs Service of that development, upon which arrangement would be made to present for scrutiny, another Customs Representative.
The Customs Representative, as a natural person must be a professional/Practitioner (Registered Freight Forwarder), while the Licensed Customs Agent, who is not a natural person cannot be a professional/Practitioner. So if the Practitioners Operating Fees(POF) are to collected, it should rightly be collected from the earnings of the practitioners. If not, the POF deviates from being a professional fee to being a tax.(Opara is a Registered Freight Forwarder, Independent Information Management Practitioner and Editorial Adviser at News Updates)
