[ad_1]
The government has announced its intention to implement the "First Port Rule" in Ghana's ports by the end of the year to combat growing smuggling. of diverted goods supposedly destined for landlocked countries. Under the First Customs Rule, customs officials from landlocked countries would be stationed in Ghana's ports and importers would be directed to the appropriate country office to pay the required fees if, in effect, they are goods in transit.
studies have shown that many products destined for transit to landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are either unloaded and sold in Ghana or smuggled through unauthorized routes, thus depriving Ghana and the countries of final destination of the required rights. [19659003] Vice President Bawumia made this announcement at the opening of the 39th Council and Conference of the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa ( PMAWCA) in Accra, on Monday
"Best Practices in Harbor Land Management" was the theme chosen for the four-day event, which attracted Directors General of Ports of the West and Central Africa Region
The is an inter-PMAWCA regional economic organization whose members originate from Mauritania, Cape Verde, Liberia, Cote d Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon Equatorial Guinea and Angola, including landlocked countries.
This conference will allow marine industry experts and stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing the sector, share ideas and propose appropriate solutions.
Vice President Bawumia said that the government's acceptance of hosting the meeting demonstrated its commitment to improving port operations, not only in Ghana, but in the sub-region "Transit traffic is so important in neighboring countries like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Not only Ghana loses, but other countries The Vice President expressed the government's commitment to improve its business practices, especially in the area of port affairs, including trade relations with its landlocked neighbors to stimulate economic growth. [19659003ThisgovernmenthasundertakenatrademissioninthesecountriesinordertostrengthentradelinkagesanddemonstrateacommitmenttothemostfavorablesportsmanshipandcorruptioninGhana
He said that trade in the subregion The ECOWAS countries have failed to enforce trade rules and regulations and, therefore, have urged the countries of the world to ECOWAS to implement the implementation of the Axis Road Po He said that Ghana had implemented the policy of the road axle since 2009, when the implementation of the law came into force , noting that the policy was aimed at reducing the loading capacity of six-axle trucks. Unfortunately, he said, it was reported that not all ECOWAS member countries were following the policy, which undermined regional cooperation and created an atmosphere of unfairness in public transport. Vice President Bawumia said that there is a huge potential in port operations that can spur economic growth in different countries and referred to some of Ghana's progress in port operations. [19659003Ibeenbeenbetween70and90containermovementswerebeenrecordedrecentlyasaresultoftheimprovementoftheinfrastructureandequipmentoftheportsofcountries
Dr. Bawumia cited the operation of the paperless ports launched last year by the government, which had reduced delays, the cost of doing business and bringing a certain level of efficiency to the ports, while internal customs barriers had been removed to ensure the smooth operation and movement of goods. Today, about 43% of importers are able to clear their goods in 24 hours and about 70% of them are able to do so . He added that in June this year, the government also launched further reforms to improve service delivery in ports, including reducing the number of regulatory bodies that undertake joint inspections in the ports. 16 to 3, and abolished the compliance stage of the clearance process.
"The operations of the customs offices in the famous" long room "were automated with system-to-system integration, which allowed importers waiting in long queues to meet a responsible for compliance for their final badessment.
"He also removed the authority of the customs officer to badess the duties on the basis of his discretion," said Dr. Bawumia., the Vice President noted that the goal was to reduce the human element in port transactions, improve the customs clearance process, automate and integrate the different stakeholders strategic and reduce the stress related to the processing of business transactions.
Mr. Bawumia said that the information technology platforms of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and of Ports and Ports Authority of Ghana (GPHA) should be integrated
. have a terminal operating system capable of interacting with that of the customs system for seamless interoperable integration between the two institutions The vice president recognized the huge potential of the port in the Improvement of the country's economy and promised to deploy intense efforts to further improve performance in order to compete with the best of international trade. 19659003] He referred to the port expansion program of Takoradi and Tema, noting that, for example, the expansion of Tema Port would improve container throughput by one million to 3.5 million per year.
Ongoing construction work at a Takoradi container terminal would carry a million tonnes over the current 60,000, noting that the expansion of the two ports would allow the nation to process about 4 , 5 million containers at the end.
million. Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, the Minister of Transport, expressed optimism that the meeting's recommendations would help the countries of the sub-region deal decisively with the maritime challenges.
Source: GNA
Source link
