Plan to integrate agencies onto single window platform launched
A strategic action plan to serve as a blueprint to integrate governmental agencies onto the national single window (NSW) platform has been launched in Accra.
Advertisement
The plan is aimed, among other things, at streamlining customs procedures, as well as facilitating trade.
The essence of the plan, which was launched by the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, is to ensure close collaboration between public and private stakeholders, while ensuring the effective implementation of reforms across sector agencies to enable the NSW to serve as a one-stop shop for trade facilitation.
Mr Terkper said while no figures were yet available, the NSW system had brought a lot of efficiency into port activities, compared to previous years.
The plan paves the way for the technical partner of the project, West Blue Consulting Limited (WBCL), to integrate the information technology (IT) systems of institutions such as the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), among others.
About 20 governmental and private agencies are expected to be integrated onto the system under phase two of the NSW project.
The integration will bring about simplified related processes in the trade chain and thereby reduce time and administrative cost to the trading public.
It will also serve as an incentive for foreign investors wishing to invest in the country, since it will provide a framework for the export of goods and services.
Other Trending Stories
Automation
Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is to introduce an automated registration and payment system as part of efforts to push for a paperless trade system.
Under the new system, which forms part of the strategic action plan for the NSW, the processes will involve the registration of businesses, while payments for services will be automated to reduce human interference to a large extent.
The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, who announced this at the launch of the action plan, said the new system was part of changes that would be introduced within the GRA.
Other changes that would be introduced as part of the second phase of the NSW, he said, included the implementation of a single and fully integrated risk management system that would result in a significant reduction in the number of consignments inspected by Customs.
“Further, we will simplify and eliminate cumbersome procedures in a number of areas and we intend to collaborate with our sister agencies to significantly reduce the intrusive inspections and interventions along the trade process in Ghana,” he said.
The GRA, he said, was also committed to greatly enhancing transparency in its service delivery.
West Blue
The Chief Executive Officer of West Blue Consulting, Ms Valentina Sowu Mintah, for her part, said the support of major stakeholders and the trading public was needed to ensure successful implementation of the project.
She noted that in addition to streamlining processes, ultimately the project would eliminate the use of multiple documentation in the completion of an average transaction.
“Online access is vital in an era when technology has become a key component in international trade,” she stressed.