COORDINATING Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has commended the Nigeria Customs Service after a meeting of the board of the NCS in Abuja on Monday. She said that in a few months the Service would take full charge of all its responsibilities.

THE Tincan Command said it raked in a total of N127.34 billion as revenue for the six months ended, June 30, 2013, as against the N120.9 billion it realized in the same period of 2012.

THE Ogun State Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) may have achieved an outstanding feat in streamlining the period for clearing cargoes through the Idiroko Border Post, keeping this under an hour.

THE Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ Ikeja unit has warned smugglers to toe the line of sanity with a view to completely eradicating the menace from the system.

THE Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi has said that the capacity building project would help the country achieve a new regime of trade facilitation in a corrupt free environment.

EXECUTIVE Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, has said that the reported neglect of the maritime sector by the Ministry of Transport was untrue. He, however, stressed that all the parastatals under it were well covered in terms of policies and direction.

PORT and Cargo Handling Services has decried the continuous blockade of the port access road, warning that if urgent measures were not taken, it could lead to port congestion.

THERE are indications that Nigeria does not have accurate report on the number of port facilities that currently exit in the country.

TERMINAL operators under the aegis of Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) and freight forwarders in the country are at war over who is responsible for high cost of doing business at the nation’s ports.

SOME licensed Customs agents who were affected by the recent clampdown on operating licences of brokers involved in activities against the Customs Excise and Management Act (CEMA) have decried the unjust blockade of their licences.

THE Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Alhaji Ibrahim Lamorde has called on the Nigeria Customs Service,NCS, to establish an integrity unit, noting that it would provide a rallying point for the promotion of transparency and accountability.

THE Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has described as untrue the statement by Globalscan boss, Mr Udechukwu that Nigeria risked the outbreak of cancer in the country’s ports and borders if scanners were handled by untrained and inexperienced Customs Service operatives.

FREIGHT forwardersand importers operating in the Lagos ports area have abandoned the seaports to patronize the Seme border post following the high cost of cargo clearnce and extortion from Government agencies.

THE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is to attract a single digit interest rate.

Vital Voices Global Partnership and Women in Management, Business, and Public Service (WIMBIZ) have announced that they will host the Supporting Public Advocacy for Regional Competitiveness (SPARC) Program and Forum in Lagos.