They maintain that such allegations could not be possible as they go through strict scrutiny in the clearing process.

The comments come on the back of concerns raised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) over the collapse of major policies should the malpractices at the ports go unresolved.

One key program that the AGI believes the illegality threatens is the one district, one factory.

The President of the AGI, Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi announced the plight of the local manufacturers at a media briefing last Thursday, February 1, 2018.

According to him, the issues of under invoicing, under declaration and mis-description have become complex due to reports of custom officials conniving with the perpetrators.

“Paying taxes in Ghana is mandatory yet some criminal minded importers have found cunning ways to evade tax/duties through the connivance with some revenue officials at the ports,” he stated.

Manufacturers lament unfair competition

Commenting on the issue, the CEO of cosmetic firm, FC Group of Companies, Grace Amey Obeng also lamented the unfair pricing compared with imported products.

“Creams that would cost you about 1 cedis to produce in Ghana is being sold out on the market for 1 cedis 50 pesewas and that is impossible considering the cost of production such as packaging, water and electricity…We cannot scale up and compete with the imported products,” she stated.

Another member of the AGI, who is a manufacturer of fruit juice, narrated his story on the impact of the malpractices.

“Almost every supermarket in Ghana has stocked other brands of fruit juices imported into the country which also contain the food concentrates that we have similar ones produced in Ghana. Why then do we not use those that are produced in the country? We are only happy to create jobs for other countries.”

Freight forwarders respond

But reacting to these concerns, the President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Kwabena Ofosu Appiah explained that the strict clearing process couldn’t allow such illegalities.

“The Technical Services Bureau does not take the documents that we present hook, line and sinker; this includes the declared intention before it is allowed into the system. We have another crack team of customs officers at the compliance level who have records that have piled up as a result of transactions that have passed through the system.  After all of these you go unto the field and meet another set of customs that is if you are channeled to go through examination,” he told Citi Business News in an interview.

On the specific concern of systems breakdown of the scanner, Mr. Appiah explained as;

“The system that we have on the ground is making it such that goods that are even channeled to the scanner are even reducing; over 76 percent of our operations at the ports is going through the red channel which is physical examination…This goes beyond finding comfort in blaming someone for the challenges at the ports.”

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

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The Herald newspaper reported on Monday that thousands of Ghanaians may be in danger as credible information they have from the Tema Ports suggests that, some unwholesome frozen food products, have found their way into the country under bizarre circumstances.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, a member of the CEPS communication team, Paa Kow Ekumah, said although they do not think something untoward had occurred, they won’t leave anything to chance, as a probe is underway into the incident.

“That issue has come up and we are seriously looking at it – investigations are going on from different angles. It’s a little sensitive now, and it’s a little early to draw conclusions. But what we know is that, when it comes to Customs, we will always make sure that we will not find ourselves at the wrong side of the law.”

“In the case of this chicken, yes, the full work hasn’t been done yet, and we have our officers down there and I’m sure in a matter of a day or two, we will come to a conclusion on it. But nothing really has gone wrong that has to do with Customs having done the wrong thing or even the FDA,” he added.

This comes on the back of some impounded rotten mackerel that found its way into the country.

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) also on October 1, 2017 destroyed 4,500 cartons of unwholesome canned fish, that were said to be on transit to Togo, but were diverted onto the Ghanaian market.

Mr. Ekumah explained that, with the mackerels, they were bound for Togo and not Ghana.

“The other one that has to do with sardine, that one was diverted goods. They were not meant for Ghana’s consumption, they were meant for Togo. So with that one, nothing really went wrong as far as CEPS or FDA are concerned. When there are goods declared as transit consignment, the FDA would not be hauled to come and work on them just because they are not meant for home consumption.”

“Customs will not be tasked to exact duties on them because they are not meant for home consumption.  Ours is to make sure we expedite any documentation that has to do with them, and then we police them to leave the country – at the point of exit. What we do is that, we try to attach satellite devices to them,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Authority, FDA, has explained that, only a portion of the entire container had rotten chicken in it, and they were sorted out and destroyed with the help of veterinary officers.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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The post We’re investigating imported rotten chicken case – CEPS appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The container, which was imported from China, is said to have been mis-described, resulting in the near loss of revenue running into thousands of cedis.

According to the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the Tema Port, Felix Mate-Kojo, the importer and agent declared the container as containing Napsak Sprayer Machine for farmers, Cutting ring for cone crusher, Raw Crusher frame and bucket ears for excavator.

He noted that, the container when physically examined at the scanning section, was detected to be carrying some other consignments which were not on the declaration.

He said further checks revealed hundreds of mobile phones, batteries and other phone accessories as well as some communication equipment in the container, had not been declared on the declaration document by the importer.

He said due to the mis-description, the agent paid five thousand eight hundred and 50 cedis as duty, since the items originally declared are items which attracted taxes below five percent.

Mr. Mate-Kojo said “after having checked the container and physically examined the items one by one, the importer is due to pay about 55 thousand Ghana cedis in duty.”

He added that “as part of measures to ensure agents and importers declare the right duty at all times, there are penalty units that persons who try to outsmart the system are made to pay. To this end, the importer and the freight forwarding company would be surcharged to pay three hundred percent of the total duty plus the original duty. So in that case, this importer would now have to pay about 165 thousand Ghana cedis as penalty with an additional 55 thousand as duty.”

Briefing the media in Tema, the Assistant Commissioner noted that, persons who would like to outsmart the system due to the implementation of the paperless system when caught would not be spared.

He urged freight forwarders to desist from such acts, as it was criminal and that persons caught would not be spared.

“Since the implementation of the paperless, some unscrupulous persons have decided to take advantage of the new system to misbehave and under pay their duty, but we shall clamp down on them and deal with them ruthlessly by naming and shaming all of them as well as punishing them to serve as deterrent to others” he stressed.

Mr. Mate-Kojo, who could not tell who exactly who might have mis-described the declaration, noted that, “The freight forwarding Agency, Senama Logistics Limited in Tema, who stands surety for the importer, United Car Services, would be surcharged to pay the true value of the items in the container before it will be released to them.”

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By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Tema port: Customs seize under-declared container from China appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Government began the implementation of the paperless clearing system last week to reduce time spent on clearing goods from two weeks to four hours, and ensure order at the port, whilst blocking loopholes.

But the aim to which the system was established experienced some hitches.

[contextly_sidebar id=”YCw9qS3918c04kECs0L9N2zp8YmVCxpb”]Hundreds of angry Freight Forwarders last Thursday thronged the Longroom of the Tema Port to protest over the delays in the system.

Meanwhile, speaking on the Eyewitness News on Friday, the Commissioner for the Customs Division of the GRA, Isaac Crentsil conceded that his staff were overwhelmed with the documents that came through the compliance unit but assured that the hitches will be sorted out before Monday.

“What happened was that what coming to the compliance office was more than the staff. So there was so much pile of work. So throughout the night…we are seriously working on it to clear the backlog. Hopefully by Monday, things will normalize. The work has doubled. In the manual system, one officer was doing about maybe ten a day but now they are doing about 20 which means the work there has doubled and that overwhelmed the staff over there.  But now we have called so many officers into the compliance unit and they have been working from Friday, Saturday and then possible Sunday to clear everything.”

Mr. Crentsil said they currently have “over a 1,000 declarations” to deal with adding that his outfit has put in place measures to have every issue cleared on time.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post We’ll clear paperless system backlog before Monday – GRA appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the GRA, the government was losing thousands of Ghana cedis from the activities of the fuel smugglers hence the decision to take strict measures to curb the menace.

The Commissioner of Customs, Isaac Crentsil made the comment in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region during a pilot exercise geared at removing all Custom check points by September this year to promote trade.

“Let me warn all those who are smuggling fuel in the Upper East Region or into the Northern corridor that, this time when we get you, we are going to prosecute you. The fact that we have remove the barriers doesn’t mean that, that is the end, that is where we are going to intensify our patrols and any tanker found carrying uncustomed goods or fuel will be prosecuted,” he said.

“….This time when we get smugglers we will take our revenue and still proceed to prosecute them because it is an offence and is worrying the country because these smugglers are sabotaging the economy,” he added.

Mr. Crentsil added that, the removal of all Customs internal check points along the transit routes of Ghana by September 1, was to promote trade.

He said the removal check points in the ongoing pilot exercise was to evaluate and get feedback from stakeholders for a successful implementation by September.

“The whole essence is to promote trade but the fact that we have removed these barriers doesn’t mean that, Customs work has come to an end, this time we are going to do work base on risk and intelligence patrolling.”

He appealed to the general public to volunteer information to Customs to enable them to fight smuggling in the region.

Upper East sector commander of Customs, Mr. Francis Talongo said, his outfit has detained some smuggling fuel tankers and will only release them after they have fulfilled their mandatory revenue obligations.

Fuel tankers with registration numbers GR 482-16, GR 3609-17 and WR 1572-12 are currently at Bolga  Customs  office for fuel smuggling.

Mr. Talongo hinted that, some vehicles and motor bikes seized for various offences will be auctioned within the week.

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By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The Guinean singer, who is based in France, was given just a local anaesthetic and hypnotised to help with the pain during the operation in Paris.

Kante was nervous about losing her voice, but in a “world first” her surgeon suggested she sing throughout.

He said one slip of his scalpel could have destroyed her singing voice.

‘Into a trance’

Professor Giles Dhonneur, who is head of the anaesthesia and intensive care department at Henri Mondor hospital, performed the operation in April but gave a press conference over the weekend, playing a video of Kante singing as he worked.

Kante had a tumour on the parathyroid gland, but because she was singing during the “critical moments” the surgeon could be sure the operation “was going well”.

Professor Dhonneur said it was the first time a tumour has been removed using the technique, as the procedure would usually be carried out under general anaesthetic.

“The pain of such an operation is intolerable if you are fully awake. Only hypnosis enables you to stand it,” he was reported as saying by to French publication Le Figaro.

“She went into a trance listening to the words of the hypnotist. She went a long way away, to Africa. And she began to sing – it was amazing,” he said.

The Times reported that singer Kante, who has made a full recovery, was also at the press conference where she revealed she had been asked before the operation if she wanted to “travel”.

“I let myself be guided. It’s as though I was not in the operating theatre at all, I was far away in Senegal,” she said.

Dhonneur said Kante had fallen silent at the end of the procedure, when “everyone held their breath” before she spoke, much to the relief of the room.

Source: BBC

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