African customs must focus on trade, security

George Blankson, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), says African regional Customs activities must expand beyond the traditional role of revenue collection and place more emphasis on trade facilitation, investment promotion and security.

He said this is important because global trade is changing so rapidly that it has engendered a high sense of insecurity in the global supply-chain.


Mr. Blankson was speaking in Accra at the 10th meeting of the regional expert group for Customs organisations in West and Central Africa, under the theme “Innovations in Customs: A Catalyst for Regional Capacity-Building”.


He said Ghana is already making strides in reforming its tax system and that the achievements recorded within the two years of integration and modernisation of the tax agencies attest to the fact that there are efficiency gains in integrating and modernising tax-systems.


“Ghana is prepared to share its experiences with other countries, but needs to develop the necessary framework to ensure coherence and convergence of interest.


“Our common interest should be to create regional tax systems that are mutually supportive. We need to create a network of experts dedicated to the cause of modernising and building the capacity of our tax administrations.”


He proposed a framework for information-sharing so that countries will not become safe havens for people to conceal their tax obligations.

“Sometimes our tax administrations are rendered impotent even in the face of glaring illegal financial transactions because of banking secrecy requirements, thereby denying the country an opportunity to fully enforce tax laws and protect the revenue.”


Mr. Blankson indicated that the overarching nature of taxation requires a more comprehensive view of the tax systems among member-countries. “Taxation impacts on virtually every facet of our economic, financial and even social lives,” he said.


“That is why we are obliged to create and nurture tax systems that are more transparent, stronger, cleaner and fairer.


“The attractiveness of the tax systems that we create will depend on the tax-policy environment and the administrative measures that are in place to actualise the policies. Our tax systems must be fashioned in the context of our financial and economic structures in order to minimise the distortions and risks in the system.”


Regional Vice-Chair Dr. Daniel Jatau said the region needs a permanent platform where tax practitioners, tax-policy advisors and other experienced tax operatives can dialogue on a regular basis and bring to the fore emerging challenges of tax administration in the sub- region.