CEPS introduces new system of tracking goods

Aflao, Aug. 11, GNA - Observers at a one-day workshop on the new Ghana Customs Trade Lane (GCe-TRAK) system for Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at Aflao have cautioned that the scheme's high service charge would make import-export business expensive and unattractive in Ghana.

The observers from the Ghana Shippers Authority, the Ghana Freight Forwarders Association (GIFF) and Transporters said the $50 and $25 service charge payable by importers to the service provider for long and short distances respectively was too expensive compared to the maximum GHC50.00 under the existing physical system of monitoring and tracking goods.

Importers, they feared, could be migrating to cheaper business environments in the West African sub-region to the detriment of Ghana's economy and called for a re-look at the rates.

Magnate Technology and Services Limited (MTSL), the service providers, organised it and about 100 senior officers of the Aflao Sector attended to learn the system's operational rudiments.

The Aflao sector, the Accra Headquarters, Tema and Kumasi will start operating the new system in a few days.

The GCe-TRAK System involves the application of an electronic software technology, linking the Service Provider's Control Station in Accra to outlets at CEPS duty stations to track and monitor the movement of goods and vehicles in transit.

With micro tags placed in the containers that are then sealed with electronic-based locks, goods and vehicles are visually monitored and tracked from the point of loading throughout the journey to the point of delivery through satellite on screens at the system's networked stations.

Diversions, tampering of containers, the seal and other anomalies including accidents are quickly flagged by the system, notifying the control points.

Mr. Papa Kofi Mensah, MTSL Operations Director, said the facility, which also covers activities at bonded warehouses and Free Zones Regimes, is to curb diversion of cargo and vehicles cleared under bonded regimes to eliminate malfeasance and threat to national security.

On the service charge, he said discussions had been held on it with stakeholders including shippers, adding the system is beneficial to CEPS, the importer, the transporters and the country.

Mr. Evans Klutse, Assistant Commissioner of CEPS in charge of Aflao, described the facility as a major evolution, replacing the old regime where one CEPS officer escorted fleets of vehicles and goods with security risks.