ACCRA: After 15 years of working with destination inspection companies (DICs), Ghana today dispenses with their services, handing over the task to the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
The decision has been met with both applause and criticism in equal measure. While more than 500 employees of the DICs lose their jobs, the move is seen as an opportunity to save the country millions of cedis that went into the coffers of the DICs as compensation for their technical support.
There have been calls from some quarters, particularly among laid off employees of the DICs, to tap into the expertise of the employees of the DICs as their companies fold up their operations in Ghana.
“Our experience and expertise are so valuable and expensive,” a spokesperson for the group, Carl Sowah, said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show.
The new system, to be implemented by West Blue Ghana Limited and GCNet Services, in partnership with other scanning companies, will be known as the National Single Window System.
It is expected to ensure a seamless, efficient and user-friendly e-clearance regime.
The single window concept provides an opportunity for traders to lodge their documents, including certificates of origin, invoices, customs declarations and import/export permits, at a single location (electronically) to be accessed by all regulatory and trade agencies, instead of traders sending copies of the same documents to different agencies.
The facility is expected to reduce the cost and the time of doing business.
Already, a modernised environment has been developed by the Customs Division to provide a Pre-Arrival Assessment Reporting System (PAARS) to enhance revenue mobilisation, improve border security and Customs clearance, overcome duplication across regulatory agencies and promote trade facilitation.
Meanwhile, the Accra Human Rights Court has dismissed an injunction application aimed at halting the implementation of the planned single window scheme at the ports from today.
According a ruling given by Mr Justice J.A. Okwabi yesterday, there was “nothing to protect as the contract had already been signed and ready to be implemented”.
The decision to give the contract out to West Blue Ghana Limited has not been without controversy.
