Why we adopted automated system at ports – NAFDAC

The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has simplified clearance of goods at the nation’s ports to facilitate trade, check corruption and comply with the federal government’s reforms at the nation’s ports.

In the past, importers and clearing agents were made to move around its offices to process clearance of goods at the ports but it has now fast-tracked the implementation of electronic processing of clearance of goods.

• Coronavirus: NAFDAC insists on chloroquine trial
• COVID-19: Stick to WHO guidelines on breast milk subsitutes, NAFDAC tasks companies

The agency in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Dr Jimoh Abubakar, said a fully automated system was deployed in 2017 with an identified group of low risk importers and clearing agents who used the system for the clearance of their goods at the ports.

The statement said the agency’s Director General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, had ordered that all processes within NAFDAC should move from the previous manual processing to online system in line with the federal government’s desire to improve the ease of doing businesses in Nigeria.

“The machinery was therefore put in place to deploy a fully automated and computerized system for goods clearance at the ports.

“This enables importers to clear their consignments without visiting the offices of NAFDAC except when invited for meetings.

“In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to enforce social distancing, NAFDAC reduced the online clearing system to a very simple process of submission and processing of documentation and release,” he said.

“This system has therefore put an end to the previous situation where importers and clearing agents crowded NAFDAC offices requesting for services.

“Currently, the only place where a client sees a NAFDAC officer is at the point of physical inspection of imported goods at the ports and/or importer warehouses which for obvious reasons must take place,” he added.

However, the Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics of Nigeria (APFFLON) had faulted NAFDAC’s activities in a recent publication in an online news media platform titled ‘APFFLON berates NAFDAC shoddy mode of operation’.

Responding NAFDAC advised members of the public to disregard APFFLON‘s statements saying the group wanted to undermine its regulatory activities.

Director Public Affairs , Dr Jimoh Abubakar said the APFFLON publication allegations were carefully “crafted and baseless falsehood meant to discredit the agency and her efforts to improve service delivery to its stakeholders.”

He said the contents of the publication have been carefully scripted to fight back the anti-corruption systems being put in place by NAFDAC’s management and to also mislead the general public on the new full end-to-end online processing of the clearance of NAFDAC regulated products at the various airports, seaports and land borders.

“APFFLON is known to have a penchant for discrediting sincere and innovative systems put in place by Government agencies because these systems tend to eliminate all the sharp practices of document faking, compromise of officers, bribery and corruption which used to exist with manual procedures that created room for contact with officers. “

APFFLON had also in the publication claimed that “for all consignment that require NAFDAC authorization before clearance at the ports, it is now online.

“Besides, it is posing a great deal of problem to access the website let alone process the platform for the first and second stamping, of which, if not completed the person won’t be able to pay customs duty, meaning that freight forwarders would have to keep paying rent to terminals until the issue is resolved.”

NAFDAC said the benefits of the computerised system include: Ability to process documentation and clearance of NAFDAC regulated products at the ports from the comfort of offices and homes using smart phones, tablets and computer systems and ability to submit request on the online platform around the clock with NAFDAC officers processing them on-duty, off-duty, day and night.

Others are elimination of person to person contact between clients and staff and the tendency to compromise officers during cases of non-compliance, provision of document verification and authentication system as well as pictorial display of inspection and inspected product packaging and labeling.

The agency said this was one intervention annoying unscrupulous agents who have not come to terms with the anti-corruption system inputted into the platform.

Others are efficient tracking system for transaction clearance with the corresponding customer friendly service by NAFDAC officers to enable clients check the status of their requests, provision of simple step by step pictorial user manual for the submission and processing of transactions on the NAFDAC portal for goods clearance at the ports, and auto generated release notices with release codes that can be verified by the Nigeria Customs Service and Importers using website and QR code technology respectively.

“This is specially developed to eliminate the previous scenario where some unscrupulous clearing agents fake NAFDAC Invoices, Receipts and stamps and present same to Importers and the Customs, “ the agency said.

Another benefit according to NAFDAC is the transmission of email notification of progress of completed processes directly to clients’ emails at the different stages.

NAFDAC also said its portal was a very simple user-friendly platform and because many licensed clearing agents employ unprofessional semi-literate staff to process clearance of goods, they do not have emails or cannot even use a simple computer system.

According to NAFDAC, the era of unprofessionalism was over as it was going ahead with the modernization of all processes within the agency.

“Processing of clearance of goods cannot commence with NAFDAC until declarations are made to the Nigeria Customs Service with the generation of the Single Goods Declaration (SGD) form which is transmitted to NAFDAC via the Nigeria Customs Service Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System (NICIS). NAFDAC requests for SGD Reference Numbers for the processing of NAFDAC regulated products at the ports.

“For clarity, an SGD Reference number is generated upon payment of Customs duties as a unique identifier for processing of consignments. So, we do not understand how NAFDAC processes prevents the payment of Customs duties.”

The agency said it was a gross display of misinformation for APPFLON’s National President in the publication to accuse it of using touts to extort people at its offices “We do not understand how touts can be used in a process that is completely online.

“A system where we have records of importers resident within and outside Nigeria who clear their consignments without any physical presence in our offices. NAFDAC does not in any way use camp boys and no non-NAFDAC staff is permitted into the NAFDAC Port offices except on invitation.”

NAFDAC said it has at various fora sensitized importers, clearing agents and other ports stakeholders on the efforts being made to completely automate/computerize her processes.

“NAFDAC as a customer focused agency will always receive and accept constructive criticisms but will not accommodate criticisms that are clearly deceitful and misleading to the general public.

“We have previously received some recommendations for better service delivery from credible importers and clearing agents which we have entrenched and we are continually committed to embracing more suggestions and recommendations that would keep improving the way we carry out our mandate, functions and activities,” the agency said in the statement.