This is being done jointly with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) - Customs Division, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), GCNet and WestBlue. As part of this, an education forum was on Thursday held at the Suame Magazine in Kumasi for spare parts dealers and artisans.

Mr. Emmanuel Ohene, Drawback Imports and Origin Officer, GRA’s Customs Division, said the goal was to save cost and time - ease the stress importers had to go through in clearing their goods.

He indicated that unlike the previous process, the new system allowed the importer to make payments through any bank of their choice and goods cleared within the shortest possible time.

He reminded importers to make sure that the “Bill of Lading” had the exact information on the goods. They should additionally see to it that they obtained all required import licenses, regulatory permits and certificates before the arrival of the goods at the ports.

Mr. Ohene warned that those who presented falsified documents would face strict sanctions – punitive fine and complete ban. He urged them to get their clearing and forwarding agents to take advantage of the 24-hour nature of the new clearance system to carry out their cargo clearance processes. It was also important for everybody to recognize that the paperless system had a post clearance review part, which allowed the GRA (Customs) to contact importers in the event of any non-compliance, regarding statutory processes that governed tax and customs clearances processes in the country, he added.

Nana Esi Soderberg, Principal Marketing and Public Officer, said the introduction of the joint inspection at the port was a huge relief.     This would hasten the inspection process and save the importer the trouble of moving from one agency to the other. He pointed out that with the new system, freight forwarders could complete all processes electronically without having to travel to Tema.