 THE GCNet SYSTEM |
PERFORMANCE AND OUTLOOK FOR CLEARANCES THROUGH THE PORTS
The GCNet system was introduced in response to stakeholder concerns for the removal of constraints to legitimate trade development and facilitation, and to enhance Ghanaian business competitiveness. It was also geared at ensuring that the facilitation of trade processes did not compromise the mobilization of trade-related revenue.
It was thus developed as a public-private partnership to ensure that all stakeholders, with a vision for enhancing Ghanaian competitiveness, participated in this electronic community network for the processing of trade and customs related transactions.
The system is presently made up of a front end electronic messaging platform (the TradeNet) and a back-end system (the Customs Management System), that processes all Customs operations electronically such as electronic submission and integration of manifests by carriers, access of the manifest details by authorized agencies, elimination of several manual interventions and the inherent duplications, selective targeting of high risk consignments via the system’s risk management module, Customs payment and revenue accounting, etc. The system has been deployed at CEPS Headquarters, KIA, James Town, Tema, Aflao, Elubo, Paga, and is expected to be launched at Kulungugu and Hamile (two other border towns with Burkina Faso) shortly.
In addition to the Customs system, linkage of other back-end applications (eg. a system for port cargo management, automated registration of vehicles, income tax assessments and payments, etc.) is possible.
The system also has an electronic permit, licence, and exemptions module that enable agencies such as the Ghana Free Zones Board, Standards Board, Minerals Commission and the Investment Promotion Centre to issue permits, licences, or exemptions electronically when applied for by importers / exporters to facilitate trade and customs clearances.
Among the other unique features of the system is a valuation module that enables Customs to access transactional values that have been collated in a Transactional Pricing Database (TPD). Another valuation feature is an electronic valuation application that automatically assesses the value of an imported used vehicle, and the corresponding duty and taxes payable on it once the vehicle’s chassis number or vehicle identification number (VIN) or engine number is entered into the system.
An enhanced transit tracking module has also been introduced, with features that include deployment of electronic transit bonds, seals, IPA surveillance cameras along the transit corridor, as well as electronic GPS tracking devices to ensure effective monitoring of all transit consignments, and minimise revenue leakages associated with the diversion of transit goods.
Similarly a module for making electronic duty and tax declarations by oil marketing companies (OMCs) when they lift petroleum products from the Tema Oil Refinery or from the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST) Company has been developed.
The GCNet system has thus contributed significantly towards the realization of the trade facilitation with improved revenue mobilization goals. Customs clearances at the Kotoka Airport, for instance, have improved from a pre-GCNet situation of 1-2 days to an average of 4 hours. Takoradi Port also has 71 % of consignments being cleared within 1 day, whilst Tema Port has averaged 2-5 days, instead of the pre-GCNet average of 2 weeks.
CEPS has also recorded significant annual growth in revenue at its stations connected to the system (eg. nearly 40 per cent in the first year, 30% in the second year and almost 30 percent in the year.)
Other spin off benefits have been made. These include both human and infrastructural capacity development, and the rationalization of some workflow processes by CEPS and complementary agencies (eg. port authority and shipping companies).
These achievements have been made on account of a number of factors (eg. an effective public-private partnership, sustainable self-financing, Government support, etc.); and have been recognised both locally and internationally (eg. by the World Bank and the World Customs Organization).
The gains have nonetheless been made in the face of a number of challenges. These include the relatively weak infrastructure, especially the availability of a reliable telecommunications network at the land borders, the relatively low level of compliance among trade operators, a seeming resistance to change in some areas, and the ineffective management of the change process required to move old processes to the desired “model state”. Tardiness on the part of certain agencies to interface with the system, as well as the introduction of complementary electronic systems (eg. a GPHA electronic cargo management system) for other trade-related agencies have also compromised the realization of the full benefits expected from the introduction of the system.
The elimination of these constraints through an intensive sensitization of all stakeholders on the need to be compliant, and the introduction of complementary automated services, that remove the cumbersome need for trade operators to shuttle from one agency to the other to process documents manually, would no doubt foster the realization of the goals of a seamless electronic clearance process, and the integrated exchange of customized business documents within a safe and traceable supply chain management, that was envisioned for Ghana.
