GCNet schools clearing agents on letters of commitments

Clearing agents have been advised to desist from acts that could place them at the wrong side of the law and subsequently be prosecuted for several offences.

The Tema and Transit Manager of GCNet, Jimmy Allotey, said there is the need for the declarants to be honest in their dealings with the customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority so as to facilitate their business and ensure an effective trading in the country.

“Please take note, if you are involved in anything dodgy bear in mind that post clearance audit can catch you, customs maybe angry over what you are doing but the best they can do is impose a 300% penalty,” he said.

Jimmy Allotey disclosed this when GCNet, which is the e-Solutions provider to Government which developed and deployed the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) for clearing of goods at ports, held a training workshop for declarants.

The training which was attended by hundreds of declarants was to educate them on some new upgrades to the Letters of Commitment system operated by the company.

The Strategy and Communications Manager of GCNet, Aba Lokko in an interview said such training programmes will help the business competitiveness of the declarants as well as make their trade easier.

“It is an opportunity for us as a company to inform them about our new upgrades to our product, to our system, about programs that we have come up with and how that would impact on their work, to explain the process so that it is easier for them to navigate on our system,” she said.

The training was also used by the customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to educate the declarants on some tax exemptions arising out of the 2017 budget statement.