Africa-Press – Ghana. The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has revealed that the commencement of 24-hour operations at Ghana’s seaports has greatly impacted the turnaround time of the clearance process.
Mr Kudjo Alepe Nyame, GRA, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in charge of Outdoor, Golden Jubilee Terminal, Tema Port, revealing this during a forum powered by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), stated that the 24-hour policy has been a net policy for trade facilitation and revenue growth by allowing consignments to be cleared and clearance processed around the clock.
Mr Nyame noted that they have significantly reduced dwell time at the ports, speeding up the supply chain and enhancing Ghana’s image as a competitive hub.
“On revenue, we have extended hours that have spread the workload, maintained clearance space during peak periods, and critically ensured that revenue collection does not stop; this has contributed to a sustainable and continuous process in dealing with revenue targets,” he said.
Giving data to back the impact of the 24-hour operations, Mr Nyame disclosed that the door-to-door deliveries (container unstuffing and restuffing) for June were 142 and 1,018 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) for day and night, respectively.
He said comparably, in July 2,460 TEU deliveries were done for day and 4,312 for night deliveries, while August day deliveries were 2,343, with night being 4,910 TEUs.
“With these figures, you can really tell that the 24-hour economy is on stream and a lot of the trading public have bought into it and are patronising it.”
The chief revenue officer indicated that the 24-hour operation had also helped in the reduction of demurrage for importers, explaining that ordinarily, without the night deliveries, they would have to wait for some days before completing the clearance process, but within the 24 hours operations, they were able to clear their consignment and save themselves from other costs.
He said to ensure effective and efficient service from the customs division, his outfit would roll out a series of training for the officers, stressing that “once that is very well achieved, officers should be equipped to be able to identify goods and classify goods. If you don’t get that right, you are missing it. Once that is done and a physical inspection is conducted, then you are contributing meaningfully to ensure that the right duties are being paid to contribute to the revenue.”
Mr Nyame gave the assurance that Customs was committed to ensuring that the 24-hour operations were successful, as they were collaborating with stakeholders and offering services to the satisfaction of clients.
He urged customs agents to come forward with their issues to enable the division to address them to ensure the success of the policy.
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