Uni-Pass clearing system fails to take off

Clearance of goods at the Tema Harbour came to a halt yesterday due to a directive from the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, asking five companies operating at the port to submit sovereign data which they have in their custody to his office by the close of work yesterday.

The companies are the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), West Blue Consulting, Strategic Mobilisation Ghana Limited, System Consult and Cargo Tracking Notes Ghana (CTN).

In compliance with the directive, GCNet ceased the acceptance of import declarations into its system, a situation that left importers and agents stranded and unable to undertake cargo clearance at the Tema Port.

Similarly, valuations on import, which were done through the West Blue system and which processed Pre Arrival Assessment Reports (PAAR), did not also function yesterday, since the two companies (GCNet and West Blue) had integrated systems and could process nearly 2,000 declarations in a day.

Letter

The Senior Minister’s directive was contained in a letter to the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and copied to the Ministers of Finance, Trade, Transport, National Security, Communications and other related stakeholders asking for payments for services provided to the state in port clearance to the five companies to be discontinued.

The letter dated, April 22, 2020, stated: “The services of the five providers will now be fully covered under the government’s contract with the Ghana Link Network Services.”

Uni-Pass

The Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) also known as Uni-Pass, which is being implemented by the government in partnership with Ghana Link and Customs Uni-Pass International Agency (CUPIA) of Korea, was expected to go into full implementation yesterday.

The new electronic clearance platform will have processing and handling of all import and export documentations centralised under a common platform known as single window.

Frustration

However, there was frustration among industry players yesterday as the ICUMS was unable to function as expected when freight forwarders turned up at the port to undertake documentation on import procedures.

Many of them claimed they were unable to process vessel manifests needed to activate import declarations as the new ICUMS system had no platform that allowed agents and importers to upload their documents for processing.

“Shipping lines are unable to release cargoes since we have not been able to process our manifests and bill of laden for verification,” Mr Wilson Brobbey, a freight forwarder told the Daily Graphic at the Long Room at the Tema Port where he had mounted his laptop and had made frantic efforts to log onto the GCNet system after unsuccessful trials on the ICUMS.

Other agents and importers were also seen at the lobby of the offices of the Tema Sector Commander of Customs, waiting for answers.

Some also sat dejectedly under trees and canopies mounted close to the long room, with the hope of receiving some good news about their documentation processes and how to go about them.

Officials of Ghana Link who were seen at the long room said they were unable to provide any form of assistance regarding how to upload documents onto the system as they were there only to register freight forwarders and importers who wished to access the ICUMS system and do business when it was deployed fully.

The Chairman of the Concerned Freight Forwarders Association, Mr Oheneba Akwasi Afawuah, expressed regret at the development. He said importers were already facing challenges with demurrage, rent and electricity charges for frozen imports.

He said although they were being told by officialdom to exercise restraint while solutions were found to the challenges, agents were under pressure from importers to do more for fear of incurring further costs if their goods did not leave the port within the designated timelines.

A member of the Technical Committee of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Mr John Mantey, said the government must, as a matter of urgency, engage the existing providers of port services in order to bring some comfort and give way for goods to be cleared so it does not lose revenue.

“Since clearance activities have stalled today, what it means is that the government cannot rake in any revenue today from its most profitable port and the situation could worsen if a compromise was not reached soon enough,” Mr Mantey said.

Efforts by the Daily Graphic to reach the acting Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, for his comments were unsuccessful as calls to his phone went unanswered.

Similar calls to the Deputy Minister of Trade, Mr Carlos Ahenkorah, were also not answered.