The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, has suggested an amendment of the extant NSC Act to give the Council express powers to carry out economic regulation in maritime industry and transport.
Bello made the suggestion in his comment on a paper entitled “The Role of Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the Maritime Industry and Transport’’.
The paper which was presented by Mr Chibuzo Ekwekwuo of Partner A & E Law Partners at the Maritime Seminar for Judges which ended on Wednesday in Abuja.
The paper was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
According to him, more powers will enable the council to make strong regulation and issue guidelines and regulatory notices for economic regulation without incurring the inconveniences of going through unnecessary litigation.
“By a new legislation through an Act of the National Assembly, creating a new body to regulate economic activities in the maritime industry and transport.
“ The NSC shall then be transformed into a new body to perform its economic regulatory functions as prescribed by the new legislation.
“In this regard, the NTC Bill before the National Assembly is relevant.
“The NTC Bill prescribes similar functions for the NTC as those being performed by the NSC at present,’’ NAN quotes Bello as saying.
The executive secretary said that it would, therefore, be more reasonable and economical to transform the NSC into the NTC instead of creating a new agency which would amount to unnecessary duplication.
According to him, what the NSC needs at the moment to reenergise is to effectively perform its role in the industry within an appropriate legal framework
The executive secretary noted that the major problems confronting Shippers against which the Shippers’ Council was to profer solutions were shipment problems.
These include: availability and adequacy of shipping space; frequency of sailing; freight rates, safety of cargo on board vessels, terms of shipments and documetations technological changes.
Ekwekwuo said that the 2015 Regulation sought to improve the regulatory regime in Nigerian ports for the control of tariffs, rates and other related economic charges.
“It requires the NSC to enforce fair trade practices to protect rights and balance interest of providers and users of port services as it had always been required to do in Section 3 of its establishment Act.
“Also it reinforces its mediatory roles and requires it to estabish modern dispute resolution mechanisms, minimse high costs of doing business, act as Interim economic regulator, including as required by the Port Concession Agreements,’’ the legal practitoner said.
According to him, the regulation requires the NSC to encourage competition and guard against the abuse of monopoly, regulate market entry and exit.
He said that the NSC would also ensure complaince of all parties with the Port Concession Agreements to improve affordability, efficiency and ensure protection of shippers’ interest.
Ekwekwuo said that of all public agencies stakeholders at the ports, the NSC “is the best positioned to be appointed and to act as Regulator of the port or transport sector’’.