Delay is a major issue in the Port
recently, Importers have lost
substantial amount of money,
i`ve lost a good customer also
due to delay so we want to look
at the cause of the delay and also
how to avoid them
1, FALSE DECLARATION: False
declaration is when you don`t tell
the truth about what you are
having inside your container or
your vehicles, false declaration is
when your vehicle is 2010 but
you as an Importer or your Agent
perfect the document to read
2005, false declaration is when
your goods are 20%duty but you
decided to change it to 5%duty.
You may escape during the
documentation but you can`t
escape when it`s time for
physical examination. If after
physical examination your goods
has discrepancies, then you are
not only going to delay your
goods but it`s an offense and it
may get you in to jail and also
going to cost you more money.
2, WRONG DECLARATION: Wrong
declaration is another problem
that causes delay in the Port, this
happened to me some months
back. I had four items in a
container, 3 Printing Machine
while the last one was Ink for
printing which was wrongly
declared. The document reads:
460 litres of Ink for Printing,
while in the container we found
23 cartons of Ink for Printing.
Each carton contain 4 gallons of
5,litres.
So 5,litres by 4 gallons by 23
cartons the total still remain
460,litres, my document
supposed to declare 23 cartons
instead of declared it as one unit.
Though it was not a false
declaration but wrong one, i was
referred to the CPC for proper
checking. End of the day i did not
pay any additional duty but
wasted a lot of time and also pay
more rent.
3, WRONG IMPORTER`S NAME ON
THE BILL OF LADING: This one is
big issue but only few people
knows about it. We should try to
avoid names with title like Pastor,
Imam, Barrister, Inspector,
General, Commander, Reverend
and many more like this. The
reason is, Shipping company will
request for your
Identity card either International
passport or Drivers license
before releasing your goods to
your Clearing Agent in order to
be sure that they (Clearing Agent)
are truly representing you. And
you know that your Identity will
not carry any of these title but
your real name. This will create
misunderstanding between
Shipping company and the
Clearing Agent. Some times you
may need to be present before
your goods will be release to
your Agent. Imagine you are in
the US and your Agent need your
attention in Nigeria...what will
you do? So let the real name on
your Identity reflect on your B/L.
4, MONEY ISSUE: I am sorry to say
this...because if you don`t have
money you wouldn`t make any
shipment but believe me many
people make shipment without
having money to clear it. but
what they don`t realize is that
they are enriching Shipping
company more and more at their
own expense because no
company will allow you to go
without paying all the
accumulated rent.
5, UNTRUTHFUL CLEARING AGENT:
This one is a bomb, i am an
Agent my self and i`m not trying
to play a saint here but the truth
is that some Clearing Agent are
not trustworthy. It happen on a
daily basis where Agent will
collect money from Importer and
spend it even before the Vessel
arrived and when the Vessel
arrived it`ll be one story after
another. But i think those that fall
victim of this act are those
Importers that are always
looking for cheap price like one
of my brother who wanted me to
clear 2006 car for 180,000.
Agents who charges very cheap
may be having money problem
with previous goods giving to
them by another Importer so
they need money so bad to
extent that they will accept any
amount you offer them just to
solve their problem.
Please beware of untruthful
Agent if your Agent charge
higher and deliver quick stick
with him.
6, CHOOSE COMPETENT CARRIER
(SHIPPING COMPANY): I think this
should be number one, on the
list choosing good and
competent carrier should be
number one priority. Many
shipping company have good
service at the Port of loading but
when getting to Port of
discharge here in Nigeria they
wouldn`t care if you are unable
to take delivery of your goods for
more than a month after
discharge as long as you must
pay for the rent. Ask your Agent
which Shipping company is
better and if you don`t
have an Agent yet ask people. For
me i will say GRIMALDI is the best
for now.
This should be a little helpful.

adisarasaq: Delay is a major issue in the Port
recently, Importers have lost
substantial amount of money,
i`ve lost a good customer also
due to delay so we want to look
at the cause of the delay and also
how to avoid them
1, FALSE DECLARATION: False
declaration is when you don`t tell
the truth about what you are
having inside your container or
your vehicles, false declaration is
when your vehicle is 2010 but
you as an Importer or your Agent
perfect the document to read
2005, false declaration is when
your goods are 20%duty but you
decided to change it to 5%duty.
You may escape during the
documentation but you can`t
escape when it`s time for
physical examination. If after
physical examination your goods
has discrepancies, then you are
not only going to delay your
goods but it`s an offense and it
may get you in to jail and also
going to cost you more money.
2, WRONG DECLARATION: Wrong
declaration is another problem
that causes delay in the Port, this
happened to me some months
back. I had four items in a
container, 3 Printing Machine
while the last one was Ink for
printing which was wrongly
declared. The document reads:
460 litres of Ink for Printing,
while in the container we found
23 cartons of Ink for Printing.
Each carton contain 4 gallons of
5,litres.
So 5,litres by 4 gallons by 23
cartons the total still remain
460,litres, my document
supposed to declare 23 cartons
instead of declared it as one unit.
Though it was not a false
declaration but wrong one, i was
referred to the CPC for proper
checking. End of the day i did not
pay any additional duty but
wasted a lot of time and also pay
more rent.
3, WRONG IMPORTER`S NAME ON
THE BILL OF LADING: This one is
big issue but only few people
knows about it. We should try to
avoid names with title like Pastor,
Imam, Barrister, Inspector,
General, Commander, Reverend
and many more like this. The
reason is, Shipping company will
request for your
Identity card either International
passport or Drivers license
before releasing your goods to
your Clearing Agent in order to
be sure that they (Clearing Agent)
are truly representing you. And
you know that your Identity will
not carry any of these title but
your real name. This will create
misunderstanding between
Shipping company and the
Clearing Agent. Some times you
may need to be present before
your goods will be release to
your Agent. Imagine you are in
the US and your Agent need your
attention in Nigeria...what will
you do? So let the real name on
your Identity reflect on your B/L.
4, MONEY ISSUE: I am sorry to say
this...because if you don`t have
money you wouldn`t make any
shipment but believe me many
people make shipment without
having money to clear it. but
what they don`t realize is that
they are enriching Shipping
company more and more at their
own expense because no
company will allow you to go
without paying all the
accumulated rent.
5, UNTRUTHFUL CLEARING AGENT:
This one is a bomb, i am an
Agent my self and i`m not trying
to play a saint here but the truth
is that some Clearing Agent are
not trustworthy. It happen on a
daily basis where Agent will
collect money from Importer and
spend it even before the Vessel
arrived and when the Vessel
arrived it`ll be one story after
another. But i think those that fall
victim of this act are those
Importers that are always
looking for cheap price like one
of my brother who wanted me to
clear 2006 car for 180,000.
Agents who charges very cheap
may be having money problem
with previous goods giving to
them by another Importer so
they need money so bad to
extent that they will accept any
amount you offer them just to
solve their problem.
Please beware of untruthful
Agent if your Agent charge
higher and deliver quick stick
with him.
6, CHOOSE COMPETENT CARRIER
(SHIPPING COMPANY): I think this
should be number one, on the
list choosing good and
competent carrier should be
number one priority. Many
shipping company have good
service at the Port of loading but
when getting to Port of
discharge here in Nigeria they
wouldn`t care if you are unable
to take delivery of your goods for
more than a month after
discharge as long as you must
pay for the rent. Ask your Agent
which Shipping company is
better and if you don`t
have an Agent yet ask people. For
me i will say GRIMALDI is the best
for now.
This should be a little helpful.

Nice one bros. But i heard Glimaldi people do steal some items from ur shipment. Pls clarify. Thks

I will not say it's a lie because there are Port Rat every where but Grimaldi still the best among the rest.

The reason why there's always stealing in the Port is because most of the Labour working in the Port are not motivated. Can you believe that 80% of them are working as a casual that if any calamity befall them on the duty there's not going to be any help. Can you believe the highest paid they get is 10,000. This is why they look for alternative, but in Grimaldi there's a little different they pay their Labour more than any other company and all their Labours are staff.