CBN Moves To Sanction Airlines, Ships Over Breach ...

CBN Moves To Sanction Airlines, Ships Over Breach Of Regulations

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to sanction shipping and airline companies that failed to comply with the directive of carrying the Form NXP number with respect to underlying cargos. The CBN said non-compliance with its provisions in a circular reference: TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/009 dated June 6, 2017, is high among shipping and airline companies.

AllNews also gathered that despite the transition into electronic format, the shipping and airline companies are still not complying according to its provision in a circular reference: TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/003, dated October 28, 2019, which "mandated electronic processing of Form NXP on the Trade Monitoring System (TRMS)" and accessible through online platforms.

While addressing the non-compliance issue, CBN stated that "In line with the provisions of these circulars, Shipping and Airline companies are required to access the TRMS platform to generate Form NXP numbers for capture on the Bill of Lading for export cargoes.

"Consequently, all shipment of export cargoes from Nigeria shall with effect from the date of this circular be in accordance with the aforementioned procedures." A statement issued by CBN's Director for Trade & Exchange Department, O.S Nnaji, disclosed.

The statement further stated that "For the avoidance of doubt, it shall be a breach of extant regulations for any shipping company or airline company to take on-board any cargo for which form NXP is not duly completed and approved on the TRMS platform, failing which severe sanctions shall be meted out for such breach, such sanctions shall include refund of the forex value of goods illegally exported as well as Post-No-Debit on all bank accounts Nationwide.”