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Nigerian Shippers� Council wants amendment to Cabotage Law
Kayode Ketefe
THE Nigerian Shippers� Council and National Judicial Institute have recommended an amendment of the Cabotage Act 2003 to incorporate issues that have been left out and eliminate internal inconsistencies and the observed loopholes within it.
This recommendation was contained in a communique issued on Thursday at the end of a three-day 8th Maritime Seminar for judges. It organised by the Council in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute, at Eko Hotel, Lagos.
The communique, which was a product of serious deliberations by the resource persons, commentators and participants at the seminar, contained 12 recommendations, among which are:
- There is urgent need for the Federal Government to domesticate all pending conventions duly ratified by Nigeria into our municipal laws, in order to fully enjoy the international uniformity of rules and other benefits accruable from it;
- The need for the establishment of alternative dispute resolution scheme in all the states of the federation towards speeding up administration of Justice;
- That the government should set up a forum, which includes the leadership of the relevant Government ministries, Agencies and stakeholders who would, on a continuous basis, review the guidelines on the implementation of the Cabotage Laws;
- That the government should promulgate specific laws on inland container depots (ICDs) to give them a strong clear regulatory framework;
- That efforts should be made to ensure that the Cargo Defence Fund progressively evolves into a collaborative scheme with the marine official committee of the Nigerian Insurance Association, leading Chamber of Commerce and Marine and Aviation Insurance companies;
- And that Nigeria must ratify and domesticate the UNCTAD Convention on Multimodal Transport of Goods and United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea, 1978 (Hambung Rules), in order to secure better protection for Nigerian Shippers.
The seminar, which was declared open on Tuesday by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Uwais, drew participants that cut across eminent jurists, legal luminaries, legislators and diverse stakeholders in the maritime industry in the country.
The Punch, Friday, 25th June, 2004.
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