RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
17July1995
ORGANIZATION(95-2272)
Original: English Negotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services
COMMUNICATION FROM THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OFNIGERIA
Response toQuestionnaire onMaritime Transport Services
Thefollowing communication iscirculated attherequest oftheFederal Republic ofNigeria
toMembers oftheNegotiating Group onMaritime Transport Services.
_______________
I. Market structure
Vessels
1. What isthestructure ofthenationally-owned oroperated fleet, interms oftotalnumber of
vessels, tonnage, andflagsbyprinciple types ofvessels.
STRUCTURE OFNATIONALLY-OWNED OROPERATED FLEET
Types ofvessels Number ofvessels Deadweight tonnage
National flag Foreign flag National flag Foreign flag
Oiltankers - - - -
Liquified gascarriers - - - -
Chemical tankers - - - -
Combination carriers - - - -
Ore/bulk carriers 1 - 16,000 -
General cargo 8 - 115,384 -
Container ships - - - -
Refrigerated carriers - - - -
Specialized cargo - - - -
Ro-ro - - - -
Ferries andpassengers - - - -
Other - - - -
Allvessels 9 - 131,384 -
Vessels of1,000 gross tonnes andabove.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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Trade
2. Total international trade carried byseain1993 was102,617,901 metric tonnes.
Nodataavailable invalue.
3. Estimated share oftotalinternational trade carried byseain1993 isabout 90percent.
Imports - 14,419,086 metric tonnes.
Exports - 88,198,815 metric tonnes.
Dataonvalue notavailable.
4. Estimated share oftotalinternational tradecarried bynational flags. Partners andother vessels
in1993 areasfollows:
National flagvessels - 36.24 percent
Partner 'sflagvessels - 24.11 percent
Cross trading flagvessels - 39.65 percent
(Note: Dataavailable onlyforthelinerconference cargo shared bytheNational Maritime
Authority (NMA)).
5. Datenotavailable.
Organization ofcargo
6. Thetotalinternational tradecarried bylinershippers in1993was1,107,936,536. (Note: Data
available onlyforthelinerconference cargo shared bytheNMA).
7. Datanotavailable.
8. Datanotavailable.
9. Datanotavailable.
10. Datanotavailable.
11. Datanotavailable.
Ports andauxiliary services
12. (a) Total national porttraffic forinternational trade (1993):
General cargo imports - 14,419,086 metric tonnes.
General cargo exports - 6,065,862 metric tonnes.
Crude oilexports - 82,132,953 metric tonnes.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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(b) International trade traffic through themajor ports (1993):
(i) Apapa port - 7,657,399 metric tonnes.
(ii) TinCanport - 2,574,674 metric tonnes.
(iii) Warri port - 1,861,362 metric tonnes.
(iv) PortHarcourt ports - 5,240,471 metric tonnes.
(v) Calabar port - 236,936 metric tonnes.
13. Presence offoreign suppliers inthefollowing maritime auxiliary services:
(a) Container station anddepot services - Yes
(b) Maritime agency services - Yes
(c) Maritime freight forwarding - Yes
(d) Maritime cargo handling - Yes
(e) Storage andwarehousing - Yes
(f) Customs clearance services - No
(g) Maintenance andrepair ofvessels - Yes
14. No.
II. Regulatory structure
General
1. Theinstitutional arrangements applicable totheinternational maritime transport sector areas
follows:
(a) Federal Ministry ofTransport;
(b) National Maritime Authority;
(c) Nigerian Ports Plc.;
(d) Nigerian Shippers 'Council.
Measures taken arespecific tomaritime subsector andhorizontally applicable toother sectors.
2. Theoverall regulatory approach applicable tobulk(dryandliquid) shipping isascontained
intheNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987, Section 9,Subsection (1)and(2)which state
asfollows:S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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9(1) "Subject toSubsection (2)ofthisSection, andinaddition tocargo asdefined under
theUNCTAD, Code ofConduct forLiner Conferences, national carriers shallhave
therighttoparticipate inthecarriage ofbulkcargo (dryandwet);"
(2) "The participation ofnational carriers inthecarriage ofbulkcargoes toandfrom
Nigeria shallbesubject tocarriage righttonotlessthan50percentofsuchcargoes."
3. Theoverall regulatory approach tolinershipping inNigeria isascontained intheNational
Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987, Section 3,Subsection (a)and(h)asfollows:
Subsection 3(a) "Correct anyimbalance intheNigerian shipping tradeforthepurpose
ofimplementing theprovisions oftheUNCTAD Code ofConduct for
LinerConferences,especiallytoobservetheratioof40:40:20inrespect
ofcarriage ofgoods toNigerian ports."
Subsection 3(h) "Increase theparticipation byindigenous Nigerian shipping linesin
ocean shipping through theapplication oftheprovisions ofthe
UNCTAD Code ofConduct onGeneral Cargo andbyentering into
bilateral agreements, orother suitable arrangements."
4. Notapplicable.
5. TheNigerian ports management andtheundertaking ofauxiliary services byprivate persons
inportareas areregulated bythePorts ActCAP. 155anditsamendments.
Under theAct,aprivate person wishing toundertake auxiliary services activities inportareas
shallapply totheMinister ofTransport whoisvested withthepowers tograntlicence toprivate citizens
orforeigners toutilize thewater front forcommercial purposes.
6. "International maritime transport" isnotatermdefined intheNigerian Merchant Shipping
ActnorintheNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987. Butbycommon understanding the
termrefers tothecarriage ofcargo orpassenger byseabetween aNigerian portandaforeign port.
Coastal shipping (cabotage) isnotcovered bythisdefinition.
7. "National shipping enterprise" isnotdefined intheNigerian Merchant Shipping Laws. But
anyone interested inestablishing ashipping company inNigeria mustregister withtheCorporate Affairs
Commission andtheNational Maritime Authority.
Market access
8. (a) Nolimitation.
(b) Yes,theNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987 fortheimplementation of
the40:40:20 cargo sharing formula oftheUNCTAD Code ofConduct forLiner
Conferences.
(c) TheNational Maritime Authority shares cargo among theshipping companies operating
inNigeriaeveryweekthroughthecargocontrolandcargosharing/AllocationCommittee
meetingwithshippinglines/agents.TheAuthorityidentifiesandallocatescargothrough
theform "C"series, which importers andexporters aremandatorily expected tofill
andreturn totheAuthority.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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(d) (i) There islimitation tothetotalnumber offoreign natural persons thatmaybe
employed inthemaritime transport service sector inNigeria. Section 7,
Subsection (g)oftheNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987states:
"100 percentofthecrew atleast75percentoftheshipboard officers and
whenever possible Chief Engineers, areNigerians."
(ii) Notapplicable.
9. Therearemeasureswhichrestrictorrequirespecifictypesoflegalentityorjointventurethrough
which amaritime transport service suppliers maysupply aservice interms of:
(a) Commercial presence: Section 7,Subsections 1(a),(c),(e)and(g)oftheNational
Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987 which stateasfollows:
Subsection 1:"TheAuthority maygrant national carrier status toashipping company
if:
(a) "Nigerian individuals orenterprises fullyowned byNigerian individuals have
atleast60percentofitsequity shares andthecompany isregistered in
Nigeria;"
(b) "Theheadoffice ofthecompany islocated inNigeria anditsmanagement and
control isdirected from itsNigerian headoffice;"
(c) Theterms andconditions oftheemployment ofseafarers engaged bythe
company areinconformity withNigerian lawsandaccepted international rules
andstandards;
(d) 100percentofthecrew andatleast75percentoftheshipboard officers
including Captain andChief Officers andwherever possible Chief Engineers,
areNigerians.
10. There aremeasures which limit theparticipation offoreign capital interms ofmaximum
percentage limitonforeign shareholding orthetotalvalue ofindividual oraggregate foreign investment.
Forexample, Section 7,Subsection 1(a)oftheNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987limits
theforeign capital investment inashipping company to40percent. (Seefulltextofthesubsection
inanswer toquestion 9above.) However, the1995 budget hasabolished allthelimiting lawson
investments byforeigners inNigeria.
11. Theconditions forgranting therighttoflythenational flagareinaccordance withtheprovisions
oftheNigerian Merchant Shipping Actof1962, Sections 306,307and314asamended andtheNational
Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987 Section 7,Subsections (a-g) already quoted inanswer to
question 9.
(a) No.
(b) No.
(c) Yes.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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National treatment
12. (a) There arenodirect preferential treatment granted exclusively tonational maritime
services orservices suppliers withrespect tointernational shipping, auxiliary services
andtreatment including operating subsidies granted tonational shipping enterprises,
discriminatory portorauxiliary services fees,taxes onfreight orshipping services.
(b) There aresome indirect preferential treatment granted exclusively tonational shipping
enterprises intheformofsoftloans forshipacquisition andshipbuilding granted by
theNational Maritime Authority from theShipAcquisition andShipBuilding Fund
established under theNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987, Section 13.
Access toanduseofportfacilities
13. Alloftheservices listed areavailable totheuseratallNigerian seaports.
14. Pilotage, garbage collecting andballast waste disposal, navigation aidsaremandatory.
15. Alltheservices listed areavailable onnon-discriminatory basis.
16. No.
17. No.
18. No.
19. No.
Most-favoured-nation treatment
20. Yes,linerconference cargo.
21. Plurilateral andbilateral basis.
22. Yes.
23. No.
24. No.
25. No.
26. No.
Government procurement
27. There isameasure relating toaccess tonon-commercial cargo. Although theterm
"non-commercial cargo", isnotdefined intheNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987.
However, Section 9,Subsection 5states that"ships owned orhired byNigerian national carriers shall
carry atleast50percentofthecargoes generated through technical assistance orinternational aids".
28. No.S/NGMTS/W/2/Add.32
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Competition law
29. These arecontained intheNigerian Merchant Shipping Act,1962, No.30asamended and
theNational Shipping Policy Decree No.10of1987.
Shipping conferences
30. There aremeasures inUNCTAD Code ofConduct forLiner Conferences which render the
admission ofnewmembers toaparticular conference subject totheapproval ofexisting members.
However, inrecent times, some oftheconference linesintheWest African route havecollapsed e.g.,
United Kingdom West African Line(UKWAL) andFarEastWest African Conference (FEWAC).
31. Conference agreements arerequired tobefilled ornotified totheNational Maritime Authority
andtheNigerian Shippers 'Council. Theabove-named authorities could oppose suchagreements if
theyfallshort ofthelegalrequirements asprovided forintheNational Shipping Policy Decree aswell
astheNigerian Shippers 'Council Decree especially inareasofquantity, quality andcapacity ofcarriage
andthefinancial strength oftheparties concerned.
32. Freight ratestariffs applied toconference, arerequired tobefiledwiththeNigerian Shippers '
Council andalsotheNational Maritime Authority. Thetwobodies havethepower toensure compliance
withtariffs filedornotified tothem.
33. Conferences arenotrequired toallow independent rateaction.
34. (a) Loyalty arrangements between conferences andshippers areexpected tobefiledwith
theNigerian Shippers 'Council.
(b) Agreements entered intobetween conferences andoutsiders areexpected tobenotified
totheNigerian Shippers 'Council.
(c) Services contracts between conferences andshippers areexpected tobenotified tothe
Nigerian Shippers 'Council.
Shipper/carrier relations
35. Nospecial arrangement exists.
36. TheNigerian Shippers 'Council Decree empowers theNSCtocarryoutfreight ratenegotiations
andconsultations onmatters ofcommon interest especially asprovided forintheUnited Nations
Convention onaCode ofConduct forLiner Conferences.