The Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) has rejected claims that shipping companies impose double charges on importers for electronic cargo release services, stating that the allegation confuses different processes and deflects attention from other cost pressures in the nation's ports. The association, an umbrella body for foreign shipping companies operating in Nigeria, said its members' charges remain below prevailing commercial rates. The reaction followed a recent allegation by former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, that Nigeria's port charges system makes importers pay twice for the same electronic cargo release service – first abroad and again locally to the same shipping company. Bala Usman had alleged that importers sometimes pay about $50 abroad for a Telex Release before being charged about N12,500 locally for what she described as essentially the same service.
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