Emmanuel Ohene explaining a point to journalists
EMMANUEL OHENE, Assistant Commissioner of Customs in charge of the Accra Sector Command, has commended the efficiency of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) at the country’s ports in recent times.
According to him, the system has succeeded in mobilizing GH¢1.2 billion every month for the country since its introduction, as processing a pre-manifest declaration now took only two hours once an importer, through their agent, submitted seamless documents in ICUMS.
“One of the very attractive modules which are being used by about 70% of the freight forwarders is the pre-manifest declaration; it is one of the pillars of trade facilitation agreement from the World Trade Organization. It allows you to process paperwork and make payment prior to the arrival of the vessel,” he explained.
Revenue Target Exceeded
GRA, he said, exceeded its revenue target in August and November 2020 from the ports, adding that it had decentralized clearance processes from the Customs Technical Services Bureau.
“Tema collection in this month of November has exceeded its target. In August, ICUMS was responsible for the revenue target being exceeded,” he noted.
Among other things, Mr. Ohene said the ICUMS had eliminated the multiple routes that preceded the payment of duties, ensured seamless processes, increased revenue, speedy processing of pre-manifest declaration, and undertaken classification and valuation in the same system.
As Chairman of the ICUMS implementation team, he said the initial hiccups experienced by the system were now history.
Noting that the ICUMS has significantly changed the country’s trade facilitation environment at the country’s ports and improved revenue mobilization; he continued that ICUMS simplified the previous Pre-Arrival Assessment Reporting System (PAARS) and undertook classification and valuation through a customs supervisor, who quickly verified documents and generated a tax bill.
According to him, that has eliminated the multiple routes one had to go through prior to the payment of duties, which is a hallmark of the ICUMS system.
He said outstations across the various frontiers of the country could manage some of the various customs regimes, including import, export, re-export and transit, among others.
“In a place like Elubo, where we had a lot of complaints, the decentralization has taken place. The same as Aflao,” he said.
Mr. Ohene said ICUMS was successfully integrated with the Drivers Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) nationwide.
Over 7,000 Tracking Devices Provided
He said ICUMS provided more than 7,000 tracking devices for the monitoring of transit cargo, leading to a stop on attachment of temporary escorts on transit cargoes.
Mr. Ohene said the second phase of ICUMS was expected to be done by the first quarter of 2021.
He said before ICUMS, 141 customs officers across the country who hitherto were operating manually were brought on-board the ICUMS automated systems, and by end of first quarter of 2021, all customs offices would be on-boarded.