Export improvement: FAAN to develop, implement cargo bill of rights

BY CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO

The lingering problem of delays and multiple charges for cargo at the airport will soon be a thing of the past.

This is according to the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, who assured the Aviacargo Roadmap committee that it’s observation and recommendations will be implemented.

The FAAN boss made this known at the monthly briefing to him by the Coordinator of the Committee Ambassador Ikechi Uko.

In his presentation Ambassador Uko told Mohammed that they could not make presentations in the last months because of the field trip embarked upon by the Committee.

He explained that the five stage project plan has only two legs left to complete the job, while seeking his support to proceed with the remaining parts of the job.

This, Uko said will include collation and report writing of the findings by subject matter experts.

He identified 10 points that the Committee had slated 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,” said Uko.

Nigeria has successfully implemented IATA IOSA for airlines and should establish a similar thing for players in the cargo ecosystem.

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.

After receiving the presentation, Mohammed, thanked the committee for it’s selfless commitment to the delivery of a new aviacargo environment in Nigeria.

He promised to support the development of new standard operating procedures for the operators in the cargo terminals in Nigeria.