5 REVIEW CUSTOMS USER MANUAL (SPREAD)

FOUR institutions have held a meeting to review in detail the User Manuals on the Ghana Customs Secure Document Systems.
The review is to enable the stakeholders to provide feedback that would be incorporated into the final version of the manual.
Until recently the stakeholders did not have any input in the preparations of the manuals, since that function was carried out by the Destination Inspection Companies.
The Destination Inspection Companies therefore quoted different prices for the same commodities and this brought a lot of friction between the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and importers.
The four institutions are the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Ghana Union Traders Association, Custom Brokers Association of Ghana and Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana.
Mr Kofi Brako, the immediate past President of GIFF, who presided over the review meeting, said the secure document system was to complement efforts of the Ghana Community Network (GCNET).
He said the manuals would be a useful tool for members especially the one on mandatory commodity properties, which provides listing of the most imported commodities into the country.
He said when importers studied the manuals carefully they would be able to easily obtain Classification and Valuation Certificates that could be passed electronically to the GCNET.
Mr Brako said the subsequent processes of declaration, bank payment, compliance, examination and release would continue to take place in the existing GCMS.
He said the manuals had demonstrated the commitment of CEPS to absolute fairness and transparency in the assessment of imported goods, since the information provided by the importer was what would be used to assess his goods.
He said moreover that it was transparent because every importer had to provide the same kind of information for the same item imported unlike in the past when the discretion of assessment was largely left to the Destination Inspection Companies who used different yardsticks to assess goods.
Mr Brako said all the associations were satisfied with the outcome of the review meeting and had appealed for additional training programmes on the manuals for members to facilitate custom procedures.
The four associations also called for additional service centres to be established in various key points in the country to ensure a successful commencement of the new system.