CEPS introduces new system

THE Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in collaboration with Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) is to introduce the Ghana Customs Management System II (GCMSII), to enable agents to validate their documents within five minutes before clearing.
The new web-based system, which would facilitate trade between exporters and importers and increase the revenue mobilisation of CEPS, is an amendment of the current manual system being used by CEPS and will be introduced on April 6, 2009.
The Operations Manager of GCNet, Mr Chris Holden, who made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Accra last Tuesday, said the new system would improve the functionality of the operations of CEPS, by enabling agents to forward details of documents to GCNet and they in turn forward that information to CEPS for feedback, all under five minutes.
He explained that after the 'Manifest' (information submitted by the agents) had been declared and approved by CEPS officials online, the agents could then go to the CEPS depot to clear the goods without delays.
Additionally, he said, that would also avoid the falsification of payments actually made by these agents whilst processing or clearing goods for their clients.
Mr Holden said the introduction of the GCMS II was to avoid such abuses and the erroneous impression created about the level of tariffs charged in the clearance of goods through Customs, or the operational status of the current GCMS being used by CEPS.
The Deputy Systems & Database Manager of GCNet, Mr Eliot Ansah, said the meeting with the stakeholders, who were mainly clearing agents, was to help them identify shortfalls and bottlenecks faced by agents in their operations with CEPS and other agencies.
The Principal Collector of the Compliance Unit of CEPS at the Kotoka International Airport, Mr Lawrence Anang, said GCNet had impacted positively on the activities of CEPS.
According to him, the introduction of the system had fully transformed and modernised the operations of CEPS, resulting in increased revenue collection, reduction in clearance time and greater compliance by stakeholders.
In the area of capacity building, he disclosed that GCNet in an ongoing process was training personnel of CEPS in relevance modules of the system, according to their operational requirements.
"The introduction of the new system will enable importers to clear their goods within an hour," he stated, and added that that would also allow them to quickly respond to complaints from clients, and make communication with clients more flexible.