Stakeholders review paperless clearance process

The Ghana Shippers Authority has organized a stakeholder’s consultative forum to review the paperless transaction process which commenced at the ports of Ghana on September 1.

Stakeholders at the forum included the Ghana Shippers Authority, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Community Networks (GCNet), West Blue, Freight Forwarders, members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association of Ghana, Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana.

Officials from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority at Tema Port, GCNet and West blue Consulting explained the challenges the paperless process faced in the past weeks.

“What is happening now in the clearance process has to do with the integration of systems, which you cannot predict when it is actually in operation,” the Projects Coordinator of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority at Tema Port, Nicholas Afotey-Annan said.

The Technical Advisor to the CEO, West Blue Consulting, Kingsley Abaye revealed that some phone numbers given out are wrong and consisting of workers who are no longer in the organization that is why they are not receiving feedback.

“But what we will do is to work with GCNet to update this information”, he assured.

“The other challenge that also came up had to do with the transfer of data from GCNet into the jimmis,” the training coordinator, GCNet Agyaaku Nkansah confirmed.

They also explained to the trading public how they have been able to surmount those challenges.

“What we have done now on the system is to make it easier for the agent and also to customs is that whenever we get a handshake from West Blue, we update the system to tell you that this entry is in jimmis’, the training coordinator, GCNet Agyaaku Nkansah confirmed.

“There were proposals to have a joint call center for all the stakeholders involved in this process so that we can address your challenges,” the Technical Advisor to the CEO, West Blue Consulting, Kingsley Abaye revealed.

Some members of the trading public also shared their experience with the paperless process and stressed the need for authorities to address their concerns.

The CEO of the Ghana Shippers Authority Benonita Bismarck reiterated the commitment of the Shippers Authority in promoting the interest of shippers in order to make the paperless process successful.

‘We have engaged Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana (SOAAG) about demurrage and they are prepared to take it on case by case basis. GPHA has already given concessions, so we doing what we can to make sure that all parties are properly served to ensure that our nation develops. Paperless is here to stay with us’, she reiterated.