Nigeria mandatory new rules! From January 1, 2018 onwards, all containers must be pallet!

According to the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and the latest decision by the Customs and Excise Department, the goods exported to Nigeria from January 1, 2018 must be required on the pallet! (By Standard Departure Date: By barge or inland transport of goods to the barge on the date of shipment)

Nigeria's Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun said the move will be conducive to Nigeria's inspection of imported goods and is currently promoting the installation of inspection scanners at ports and borders to speed up the inspection of goods.

pallet transport goods

As the largest shipping line in the world, MSK make out of a version of the FAQ, organized a common problem of new regulations:

1. What is the palletization policy about?

The policy is an initiative of the Presidential committee on ease of doing business in Nigeria which stipulates that all containerized cargoes coming into Nigeria must be palletized. This is to assist officers of the Nigerian Customs Service in providing an easy and faster way to physically examine containers being brought into the country.

2. What trade category does the palletization policy apply to?

The palletization policy is only applicable to all containerized cargo being shipped into Nigeria (i.e import cargo)

3. When is the palletization policy expected to be implemented?

The government has announced 1st January 2018 for the enforcement of the palletization policy for all containerized goods coming into the country. The policy will apply to all Nigerian bound cargoes departing various ports of loading/origin.

Goods that have already been loaded for shipment into Nigeria prior to this date will not be affected by the palletization policy.

4. What type of pallets are acceptable?

At the workshop, it was stated that pallet dimension is 40’ x 48’ and has a capacity to

carry goods as heavy as 1,000kg. However, we have not been officially notified on the

approved size, weight capacity and nature of material to be used as pallets.

5. Which goods are exempted from palletization?

Items exempted from palletization are categorized by:

➢ Weight: Example include heavy metals such as flat steel sheets, aluminum

in coils, ….

➢ Mobility: Refers to commodities that can roll by itself such as motor vehi-

cles, mobile gas cylinders, firefighting equipment, ….

➢ Container space: Having adequate space of at least 2ft between each

cargo for ease of movement inside the container such as earth moving

tyres, ….

➢ Fragility: Such as large, high precision diagnostic health machines

We still await a full comprehensive list/guideline from the federal ministry of fi-

nance detailing what goods require palletization and what goods are exempted

from palletization.

6. If I am a fast track customer, do I still need my goods to come in pallets? 

Please contact the Nigerian Customs Service for more clarity.

MSC 

Well, we also get some voice about this policy from local exportor in Nigeria:

Shippers say Nigeria may lose more cargoes to ports in neighbouring countries if Federal Government insists on a policy to store and transport goods on pallets as a unit.

Nicodemus Odolo, on the board of trustees of the Shippers Association of Lagos State, reacting to the Revised Import Guidelines from the Federal Ministry of Finance that shipping lines shall ensure that Nigeria-bound containerised cargo are palletized.

He said, “Not all cargoes need to be palletised, there should be exceptions; the ministry should let shippers choose whether to palletise a cargo or not.

“At present, Nigerian shippers are operating at about 40 per cent below their capacity.

“Many Nigerian shippers have relocated to other countries to do their business because of the unfavorable policies by the government which have resulted in high cost of doing business in Nigeria but with less profit.

“Whoever advised the government about palletisation of all goods is not a friend of the shippers because this policy only favours the foreign shipping lines,” he said.

According to him, the quantity of goods which ought to go into the container will be reduced as a result of pallets taking up spaces, which simultaneously will increase the amount of container used to ship the goods.

Odolo also said that this would increase the cost of freight to the benefit of the foreign shipping lines.

“Nigerian ports do not have the infrastructure to handle the planned upsurge in cargoes and increasing containers in the already congested ports will result in shippers paying more demurrage and freight.

“If it is an international agreement, Nigeria should take a decision that is suitable to her economy and the citizens and not adopt all policies formulated by the developed countries.

“This is how the developed countries plan to keep the undeveloped nations perpetually under-developed.

“They enact  policies that are favourable to them but unfavourable to the under-developed nations and continued to exploit them.

“If the government wants to increase the number of cargoes in the ports, it should put in place adequate infrastructure,” Odolo said.

He said our ports should have 24-hour uninterrupted electricity, good road network, modern cargo handling equipment, security, modern truck terminals and new trucks.

The shipper said that these would make the cost of cargo handling cheaper in Nigeria than in the neighbouring countries.

Odolo also said that bank interest rate should be reduced as well as import duty tariff on some imported items.

To our maize milling plants and wheat flour milling machines, as it’s complete productions lines combined by different function machines, which have different sharps, in order to keep it in stable reduce bump during the machines transportation, we will load the machines naked and fix the machine by Triangle iron. To the small parts, like pipes, will put in the slot and top of the machines, to make the space use maximum.

Loading maize milling plants

To be honest, this policy didn’t suitable for our maize milling machines and wheat flour milling machines. And also, it will add the cost fees, means Nigeria client have to cost much than other countries importors.

Really hope that the Nigeria government can adjust this policy depend on different field products.

In January, we will load the 100T/24H MAIZE MILLING MACHINE for the Nigeria client, we will keep an eye on this incident. Welcome all Nigeria clients contact with us about the wheat flour milling machines and maize milling plants.