Kwasi Bobie Ansah, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Public Affairs at GRA addresses journalists at a media workshop
IMPORTERS CAN now estimate the payable duties on their goods as well as track their movement thanks to the introduction of a one-stop mobile software application.
The Ghana Trade Hub (GTH) Mobile App, designed by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in collaboration with the Westblue Consulting Limited, is aimed at facilitating trade campaign and reducing the cost and time of doing business at the ports.
It has largely been embraced and described as a novelty and brilliant innovation in the trade and imports fraternity.
Charles Obidiaba, Revenue Collection Officer of GRA, in a presentation, said it was mandatory to download and open the App, select ‘Duty Calculator’ and then select ‘General Goods’ as the first three steps.
“The fourth and final step is to key in the HS Code, Freight, Product Value, Ancillary Charges, Ex Works, select the currency and then click the ‘calculate button’ for the results to be displayed in the pop up space.”
The App is self-explanatory and easy to follow once downloaded. It for instance asks that where the exact value of the consignment is not known, the user should just type ‘0’ as in zero.
As part of the Paperless Port reform at Ghana’s ports, it is meant to transform Ghana’s ports and strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness.
The paperless ports system has ensured the automation of the certification of origin for export; cancellation of the importer registration process while also it has reduced regulatory agencies for physical examination from 16 to 3.
Commenting on it, Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia stated at a recent Town Hall Meeting in Accra: “To deal with the lack of information on the status of consignment and the duty payment, the Ghana Trade Mobile App has been developed to enable importers check the status of their consignment and the import duty payable online, Vice President”, Dr. Bawumia noted.
A business desk report C