Maritime Group Cautions CBN On E- Invoice Implementation , Awaits February 1st Decision

The Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC),has kicked against Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) e-invoicing policy saying it  would militate against trade facilitation and delay in cargo clearance from the seaports.

 

The CBN said that all import and export operations will require the submission of an electronic invoice authenticated by the authorised-dealer banks on the Nigeria single window portal, Trade Monitoring System, effective from February 1 2022

 

The activist group also called on stakeholders in the maritime sub sector to speak with one voice by squashing the proposed CBN policy on e-invoicing.

 

According to the group, the Single Windows platform is enough to monitor transaction of trade from the shipping industry, adding that the implementation of the policy will further compound cargo clearance from the ports.

 

National Coordinator of the SNFFIEC , Chief Osita Chukwu Patrick in a chat on Monday with our correspondent , reiterated that if implemented by the CBN, cargo throughput will reduce and goods might be diverted to neighbouring ports in the sub region.

 

He also accused the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele for the proposed  ill-advised policy of invoicing noting that the directive from the apex bank is a mirage.

 

 

Osita lamented that the sector revenue generating agencies remit to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), adding that decision from the Ministry of Finance surpassed what the CBN Governor is clamouring for.

 

He added that if implemented then, stakeholders should expect bottleneck and cumbersome process and procedures of cargo clearance.

 

He said “If implemented then stakeholders in the shipping industry should expect terrible and difficult process in cargo clearance. The CBN Governor has failed to understand what shipping business is all about.”

 

 

He further  called on the CBN Governor to tackle issues of forex in promoting international  trade and not compound the existence challenges faced by operators in the maritime sub sector of the nation’s economy.

 

 

“Any country that fails to understand and protect the peculiarity in shipping industry is doomed  ,”he said.

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had also released guidelines for the newly-introduced electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and evaluator for exporters and importers.

 

The new regulation, it stated, is aimed at determining the accurate value for goods leaving the country or otherwise. The migration was announced in August, last year.

 

The apex bank said the electronic process, which replaces the hard copy, would commence on February 1. It added that the invoice must be authenticated by the authorised dealer banks.

By Roland Ekama