Tema, Oct. 12, GNA - The Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) has called on its members to put in place structures aimed at checking documentary frauds, which were prevalent at the ports.

Mr Julien Fernand Gauze, Secretary General of PMAWCA who made the call at the weekend, said the Association's members must adopt short, medium and long-term measures aimed at minimising the trend.

Mr Gauze who was speaking at the end of the four-day conference of the PMAWCA at Tema said the measures to check fraud relate to data collection procedures, processing of information, establishment of internal and external control systems, as well as sensitisation of stakeholders and conduct of joint actions associating all port community members and actors.

He referred to the Committee on Maritime Safety, Environmental Protection and Operations, which adopted several recommendations and said after reviewing issues on competition ranging among ports in the sub-region for the expansion of their respective market shares, it was of the view (Committee's) that competition was indispensable and should rather be encouraged.

The committee made a recommendation to PMAWCA member ports to design and adopt more aggressive and customer-oriented marketing policies, ameliorate their services and sensitise their respective governments about the necessity to expand existing land, rail and inland transport infrastructure.

Mr Gauze said members adopted the Committee on Administration and Legal Affairs Report on "Legal implications and consequences of the expansion of the Internet and Electronic Commerce (e-commerce), which urged all ports in the sub-region to embark on extensive sensitisation of their stakeholders, management and staff about this irreversible trend to adopt necessary measures aimed at adapting their operational procedures and policies to this "dictate" of the new international economic and technological environment.

In all, 23 member states from the Anglophone and Francophone countries in the West and Central Africa that form the PMAWCA attended the four-day.

The meeting presented papers on "Data collection and operational statistics production", Competition between ports of the sub-region: advantages and disadvantages, "Loss of cargoes in ports through documentary fraud and "Improving cargo growth in our ports," among other topics.