The lingering problem of delays and multiple charges for cargo at the airports will soon be a thing of the past as the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, said plans are underway to develop a cargo bill of rights to enhance exports and rid the system of corruption.
The bill of rights is of the recommendations by AviaCargo committee to the Authority.
By initiating and implementing the Cargo Bill of Rights, the new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) will effectively become a corruption free zone while it improves the integrity of the exports from Nigeria apart from reducing rate of goods rejection
The FAAN boss assured the Aviacargo Roadmap committee that its observation and recommendations will be implemented.
These assurances were made at the monthly briefing to the MD by the Coordinator of the Committee Ambassador Ikechi Uko.
In his presentation, Ambassador Uko told the MD that they could not make presentations in the last months because of the field trip embarked upon by the Committee.
He said that the five stage project plan has only two legs left to complete the job and seeks the support of the MD to proceed with the remaining parts of the job. This will include collation and report writing of the findings by Subject Matter experts.
He identified 10 points that have been identified by the Committee for implementation.
Among the highlights of his presentation includes the FAAN Cargo bill of rights that guarantees the swift, transparent and efficient handling of any good that steps into any Nigerian Airport.
The Designated Cargo Village, he said will transform unknown goods to known Goods.
” Nigerian exports are rejected because they are unknown and cannot be traced. So the job of the Aviacargo Village is to transform Unknown or unsecured Goods to known Goods before export. This is the Global Standard and should be enforced in Nigeria.
“Nigeria has successfully implemented IATA IOSA for Airlines and should establish a similar thing for players in the Cargo Ecosystem.”, Uko said.
He identified levels of registration and Certification needed for the industry starting from Farm Registration to Certification of Cargo Agents, Handling Companies and freight forwarders.
The FAAN boss promised to support the development of new Standard Operating Procedures for the Operators in the Cargo Terminals in Nigeria, adding that FAAN will also implement a new Service Level Agreements that will overhaul the whole Cargo Operations in Nigeria.
The implementation of a new five evel secure Supply Chain pathway will improve the quality of Aviacargo business in Nigeria as it cuts across the whole value chain starting from the farms.
“Nothing will be accepted at the Airport that cannot be traced and did not pass through the pathway.” he said.
He disclosed that FAAN management will join the retreat for the final production of the report as it will mark the beginning of a new era for Aviacargo in Nigeria.
The report was presented in the presence of the Director of Commercial and Business Development of FAAN Olumuyiwa Femi Pearse, General Managers, Business Development and that for Cargo, Hycienth Ngwu and Kabiru Mohammed, respectively the Chief of Staff to the MD, Barrister Kwasau and many other stakeholders.
