Finance Ministry advises CEPS on its operations

Tema, June 12, GNA- The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has directed the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to publicize the values of the common vehicles, to enable the public to make choices in their purchases.

The publication, which should also be computed at CEPS's website, must state details such as the model, type and make of the vehicles to give a fair idea of the amount to pay, Mr Samuel Yankyera, Assistant Commissioner in charge of Research at CEPS made this known at Tema on Thursday. He was addressing members of the Tema Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) on the general operations of CEPS at their annual general meeting.

According to him the directive is aimed at displaying transparency in CEPS operations as well as solving public complains about disparities in prices of models of vehicles of the same models. He said CEPS has streamlined its operations to meet standards and eliminate fraudulent deals such as forgery, corruption and diversion of cargo especially those in transit, documentation and clearance of goods and the general operations in order to facilitate trade transactions. Among them are the installations of Satellite Monitoring Tracking System on haulage trucks and at vantage points like Accra, Tema and Paga, which would be extended to other parts of the country as well as electronic devices in its documentation.

The modern system has replaced the previous human escort of haulage trucks to their various destinations.

As a result, CEPS has entered into agreement with La Cote d' Ivoire to commission a satellite monitoring facility at strategic places in their country to check malpractices like diversion of goods. The Assistant Commissioner explained that the facility has been programmed in such a way that any malpractice detected would to be hooked on all the devices at their respective installations, to inform personnel to take action.

To facilitate trade operations, Mr Yankyera hinted that feasibility studies are also underway to connect the major exit points of the country as well as the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to the CEPS trade net to access information on goods. Mr Yankyera called on importers and exporters to comply with customs rules and regulations, by fulfilling their tax obligations and declaring correct information on their goods to enable them to pay the appropriate tax and duties, warning that, evasion of tax attracts huge penalty.

He said for exhibiting honesty and sincerity in tax declaration some 146 manufacturing companies are not subjected to serious examination of their goods however, periodically random checks are conducted and urged others to emulate them. He advised against smuggling of goods into the country, saying that, most smuggled items, especially drugs, do not meet the required certified standards and therefore have the tendency to create health problems.

Management of pharmacy shops are also entreated to buy their stock from the required sources "to ensure safety of our health". During an open forum, Madam Pamela Dankwa, Director of Britannia Freight Services called on the CEPS to make the World Trade Organisation (WTO) requirements on trade public, to get businesses informed on the contents to guide their transactions.

The members called for the sealing of all loopholes by CEPS to make the business at the port more attractive.

Talking on combating HIV/AIDS at the workplace, Dr Adriana Ignea, Programme Officer of Ghana Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS, said there was the need to intensify public education at work places, since the disease was claiming the productive youth, to the detriment of development. 12 June 08