Insecurity: FG to explore cargo tracking notes

The federal government has said it will reintroduce the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) to curb rising insecurity on Nigerian waterway as well as arms proliferation.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who disclosed this, said the CTN could play a crucial role in enabling the nation to address the growing spate of banditry, kidnappings and restiveness fuelled by easy access to guns.

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Amaechi said he has further directed the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) to commence preparation to undertake the responsibility of administering CTN as it takes off.

CTN or the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) is a system for collecting documents and processing information when exporting by the sea in order to obtain prior information, to participate in security measures, statistics, and generally in order to participate in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) recommendations on trade facilitation and security with 24 African countries using it.

The Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, whose council is to handle the CTN, said, “It will boost the revenue of the government and customs revenue collection in the sense that it will abate under-declaration and concealment. It will boost the revenue of NPA because there will be no more alteration of manifests.

“It will boost the revenue of NIMASA because under-declaration on the weight of ships will not be there any longer.”

Commenting, a maritime lawyer and Director of Education and Research in the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), Dr Alban Igwe, said CTN remains the best answer to issues of anomalies and security challenges in the country.