Customs marks International Customs Day

The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) joined its counterparts around the globe to mark the 2017 International Customs Day. This year’s celebration was targeted at how data analysis could be used for effective border management.

A tax policy advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Dr Larbi-Siaw, who was the special guest of honour, indicated that with globalisation, the trade and transport community continued to seek simplification of data requirements for international trade transactions on account of legal and regulatory regimes at the borders.

He said there was consensus among member countries of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) that global harmonisation and simplification of systems and procedures could be achieved through learning from other countries.

“It is becoming increasingly necessary for customs administration worldwide to share and exchange data and information. In Ghana, discussions are ongoing to interconnect the automated customs management systems of Ghana with countries in the West African region. This is to enable information to be shared and exchanged on goods transiting through Ghana to other neighbouring countries,” he said.

The Commissioner General of the GRA, George Blankson said the Customs Division was moving on the path of modernisation and intended to employ sophisticated equipment to make customs and border clearance easier and faster.

“GRA continues to stay ahead in the drive for innovation and ensuring better service for national development,” he said.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Commissioner of Customs, the Secretary General of the WCO urged customs communities to pursue their effort and activities in the area of data analysis in order to ensure effective border management.

The CEO of West Blue Consulting, Valentina Minta commended the customs division of GRA for its achievements in effective service delivery and revenue collection.

“Recent successes such as contributing significantly to improving Ghana’s ease of doing business and logistics performance index of the World Bank’s annual ranking, we have no doubt that customs and GRA are on the right path and the best is even yet to come,” she said.

The Managing Director of GCNet, Alwin Hoegerle said his outfit will continue to deploy innovative ways to protect data in the country.

“To this end, GCNet will continue to roll out new innovative solutions such as GCMS free and the new dashboard reporting and data analytic software in the provision of e-solutions to modernize the processes of customs management to boost trade and revenue,” he said.