Management of SGS Scanning Nigeria Limited, one of the destination inspection service providers has again been commended for the quality of training enjoyed by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) personnel on secondment to the company.
Speaking at the impressive closing ceremony held on Thursday 12 August 2010, at the company’s Lagos Office for the fifth batch of graduates under the NCS Secondment Programme, representative of the Comptroller General of Customs, Comptroller Adewole M.A., noted with satisfaction the capacity building efforts of SGS in line with its contractual obligations as a service provider under the DI scheme. Comptroller Adewole who is also the Area Controller of the Lagos Airport Customs Command, charged the new graduates to be good ambassadors of Nigeria Customs Service in their future endeavours. <Read more>

US TRADE WITH FRANCO- WEST AFRICA HITS US$1.8B
Representatives of the United States of America and the West African Economic and Monetary Union held the sixth meeting of the US/UEMAO Trade and Investment Framework (TIFA) Council. The two sides discussed trade and investment related issues, including the implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, co-operation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as issues on regional integration, infrastructure and trade capacity building. <Read more>

GUINEA AND MALI ADOPT CARGO TRACKING NOTE
Governments of Guinea and Mali have introduced Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) of (Bordereau de Suivi Cargaison (BSC) which must be obtained at the port of departure (Load) prior to shipment. The responsibility relating to the issuance of the CTN/BSC and all costs is with the cargo owner or shipper.
For Guinea the new policy takes effect from 1 August 2010, while Mali is from 1 July 2010. Both countries are using the same company, Antaser Afrique based in Belguim, as the worldwide general agent . <Read more>

ETHOPIA LIBERALIZES SHIPPING SERVICES
The Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority (EMAA) has proposed a bill that seeks to liberalise the country’s shipping industry where currently the state owned Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESA) is the sole operator. Under the proposed bill, interested investors can set up multimodal transport operators (MTOS) with a minimum capital base of 10Million Br, would be allowed to float shipping companies. <Read more>

SOUTHERN AFRICA NAVIES SET TO CONFRONT PIRACY
Senior naval officers from member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on met last week in Maputo (Mozambique) for three days to discuss the fight against maritime piracy. Chief of General Staff of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM), Paulo Macarringue, in his address at the opening ceremony said that the relevance of the meeting becomes evident if one takes into account the threat that piracy poses to maritime security. <Read more>

MOWCA TO ESTABLISH REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MARITIME ADMINISTRATIONS
In compliance with the resolution passed at the last sub regional symposium on maritime hosted by the Government of the Republic of Benin in September 2009, the Secretariat of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) has announced plans to establish an Association of Maritime Administrations /Merchant Marines Administrations / Merchant Marines (MAWA) in the sub-region to co-operate more closely in developing the national/sub-regional capacity for dealing with issues of maritime safety, security and environmental protection. <Read more>