Ayariga Deceived

...3 DICs told him palpable lies on his visit

It can be a big disadvantage to be a Minister of State with no prior expert knowledge about the operations of the sector to which you have been assigned to handle. Such is the case of Deputy Minister of Trade, Mahama Ayarigah, who suffered a heavy dosage of lies from three Destination Inspection Companies (DICs) he visited last week. They took advantage of the fact that the affable Deputy Minister has little or no knowledge about the operations of DICs, clearing agents, importers and other stakeholders in the trade community On page 21 of the Daily Graphic of 15th May, 2010, one Ayisha Dah reported on the visit of the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industries to the offices of three of the four Destination Inspection Companies, and it was obvious the DICs painted a picture to support the need to maintain them for their services. They made several false claims. A serving respectable senior officer of CEPS who the Daily Post spoke to rebutted the claims by the DICs. The senior officer said he wants the world to ask the DICs when they ever inspected goods at the Tema and Takoradi ports, and the Kotoka International Airport, or at any of the frontier stations before they were released to the owners for home use. He challenged the DICs to produce just one record to signify that since their inception or engagement, they have inspected goods at the ports. He went on to say that the DICs have in their name “Inspection” therefore they want the world to believe that they inspect goods at the ports, which is a fallacy.

The DICs had told Ayariga that “Destination Inspection is the inspection of goods at the ports of entry by approved inspection companies before they are transported to their various destinations” This, according to the CEPS officer, is a palpable lie because all inspections of goods are done by Customs officials at the ports. They have been specially trained for this assignment. There are a set of rules for the inspection of all goods and they are of international standard. Certain goods are inspected in collaboration with other government agencies, like the Standards Board, Food and Drugs Board, the Veterinary Service and the Plant and Quarantine Service. CEPS has also got a world class laboratory which is manned by well qualified personnel. These laboratory officers, in collaboration with the government agencies, inspect goods of certain nature. The officer said CEPS officials have never inspected goods with personnel from any of the inspection companies. He challenged the inspection companies to name one person or a group of persons from their companies who inspect goods at the ports and they should submit just one report on goods they ever inspected and state what the report was used for. The DICs told the Deputy Minister that “Our (sic) main objective is to aid transparency in the importation of goods by scanning and providing risk assessment services at the ports based on information provided by the importers and their banks and issue risk assessment reports to enable CEPS to ascertain the level of intervention required per consignment.”

Contrary to this claim, the Senior Officer was emphatic that the inspection companies know that scanning of goods is just one of the various processes for inspecting goods. Customs officers use several methods to inspect goods. Goods could be inspected by just sighting or even by smelling. The DICs, he said, know that not all goods are scanned but specified goods are scanned and they are scanned for convenience. The officer said whisky in bottles would not be scanned because there is a risk a special assessment profile and a special method for inspection. The procurement of scanning machines by Inspection companies does not therefore take the inspection functions from CEPS. CEPS could procure or hire scanning machines for the inspection of specified goods, the senior officer asserted.

He said “ the inspection companies also know that risk assessment is based on Customs prohibitions and restrictions. These prohibitions and restrictions as set in various regulations are enforced by Customs. CEPS does not therefore need the assistance or directive from anybody to enforce such regulations. The inspection companies have been given the list of items to flag red and those to flag green. What is the noise of trying to let the world know that they conduct risk assessment on all goods imported into the country? They are not aware that apart from flagging goods for the purposes of assessing the risk status, CEPS uses other factors to assess the risk thereon. The senior officer narrated what the inspection companies have been doing to obtain those huge fees in the name of inspection. He said traders submit their Import Declaration Forms (IDFs) to the Inspection Companies two weeks prior to the arrival of the goods. The Inspection Agencies then “find” values for the goods and attempt to classify them in the Customs Harmonized System. They then issue a Final Classification and Valuation Report (FCVR) for the preparation of a Customs Declaration. Though the report is said to be “final”, it is not a final report as CEPS has the right to reject it, revalue the goods or re-classify them. This function of the inspection companies is nothing extra-ordinary that Customs cannot do by itself. The senior officer said “ it was unfortunate that the DICs were trying to blame Customs for their failure to submit reports on their activities to the authorities. He said the Inspection companies have always regarded themselves as tin-gods which are powerful and untouchable. Which officer in CEPS could go to any of the Inspection companies to demand accountability? Would that officer not be transferred or subjected to all forms of harassment?”

He went on to say that, it is rather unfortunate that the Inspection companies always find solace in personnel from the Ministry of Trade and not from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning who are responsible for the collection of duties and taxes. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, he said, should know that if it allows the Ministry of Trade to dictate how duties should be collected, nobody would sympathize with them when the revenue agencies fail to meet their targets. The officer said he wants to see a day when the Inspection companies would flirt with personnel from the Ministry of Finance and have the type of dialogue with them the way they do with the Ministry or Trade.