Government has indefinitely suspended the Advance Shipment Information System (ASHI).
[contextly_sidebar id=”3PqzP2JcxRN4tkmVgXFmjM82R9iPORWa”]Implementation of the ASHI was postponed to the 2nd of April,2014, after stakeholders including Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) and Ghana Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) among others threatened to hit the streets over its implementation.
ASHI is an electronic platform, which when implemented will enable importers to fill out documentation online to expedite cargo the clearing process.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Dr. Kofi Mbiah said the suspension will allow Ghana to engage shippers and freight forwarders on the single window programme to be implemented later in the year.
“The ASHI has been suspended indefinitely; government intends to come out with a single window system that would take cognizance of all the issues and concerns raised by stakeholders. So for cargo that would be coming into Ghana there would be no requirement for an ASHI as originally envisaged from the second half of 2015.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority said public engagements would continue with all the stakeholders so as to allow for the smooth running of the new single window programme for the port authorities to implement.
“As government said the stakeholder consultations would still continue, because the whole idea is to allow for a system that would facilitate trade and be of benefit to government and both importers and the freight forwarders.”
Dr. Kofi Mbiah maintains that as proponents of ASHI the shippers authority still believes the best way to go is for Ghana to move forward to use more secured documentation in clearing cargo which will cut down on the delayed time out our ports.
Meanwhile the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) has welcomed the suspension of the program.
President of GUTA George Ofori told Citi Business News ‘what we were saying was simple, that needed to be understood by all because what we were saying is that there were too many institutions at our ports performing the same functions so if we were going to add another layer of cost it was going to be burdensome on the traders and importers in the country.”
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By: Norvan Acquah – Hayford/citifmonline.con/Ghana