The Ghana Profits Authority (GRA) on June 1, 2020 shut down the Ghana Group Network (GCNet) clearing technique as the new Integrated Customized Administration Technique (ICUM) commonly acknowledged as Unipass, took more than.
This arrived following piloting the process at some ports which include the Takoradi and the Tema Ports and education for stakeholders.
On Monday, a selection of freight forwarders thronged the port to air their grievances of their incapacity to use the new process and hence known as on governing administration to operate the two programs concurrently as an alternative of absolutely shutting down the old process of clearance which they had employed for almost two decades.
“The two methods can function hand in hand, we should not have been standing below, ordinarily, we must have been in our workplaces performing but if you sit in the workplace just what are you likely to do since the method is not working”, the freight forwarders complained.
They indicated that their expectation of having their documentation likely through the method easily as promised by authorities, did not materialize as the program saved giving them error message when they tried using inputting their data.
According to them, if the old method was operating concurrently, they would have fell on that when encountered with this kind of challenges with the Unipass.
“We are declaring that we should not have waited for this detail to have come to this amount. All we have been advocating was they ought to have operate the process concurrently so that in an function that issues materialize the way they are taking place now, we will tumble on the outdated process and assure it moves easily but appropriate now they have shut down the aged process fully and the new procedure is not in a position to keep the load”.
Mr Listowell Lloyd Harris, a freight forwarder stated “personally we submitted a CCVR (Customs Classification and Valuation Report) final week we were not capable to pay out the duty, now what is happening is if you go to the bank to shell out it tells you the CCVR is invalid, that means that the new system is not able to realize the CCVR we have created in the aged method so it was inquiring us to ask for for a newwhich will consider at least a day”
Mr Harris claimed requesting for a new CCVR intended loss of earnings for government, and delay for their customers among the other inconveniences incorporating that authorities ought to lean from previous experiences to prevent such difficulties every time they wished to modify the process.
Colonel Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd), Commissioner of Customs Division of the GRA responding to the problems of the freight forwarders, encouraged them to make use of the procedure as according to him, the more the exercise, the far more they would be conversant with it like they were with the outdated process.
Col. Damoah (Rtd) stated they were being getting the difficulties due to the fact the freight forwarders rather of practicing with the new technique before its complete roll out, opted to use the previous method which was jogging concurrently with the Unipass right until June 1 mainly because they were snug utilizing that 1.
He having said that said that committed assistance desk with expert officers had been put in spot to enable tackle and offer support to these owning problems at every single stage of the clearing procedure and as a result urged them to make very good use of the desk to solve their complications.
“We are mindful that if you get started any new issue you are very likely to have one or two issues so we concede you genuinely have some considerations that is why we have moved all the way from Accra to pay attention to you and come across answers to your troubles. We expected this and for that reason we have support desks where by some of our skilled officers are now positioned to listen to you, know the forms of troubles and support resolve them”.
Mr Alan Kyeremateng and Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, Minister and Deputy Minister of Trade and Business respectively, also visited the port and experienced closed doorway conference with leadership of Customs on the problems struggling with the rollout of the unipass procedure.
