The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has said it is committed to resolving challenges associated with Uncleared Cargo List (UCL).

Christiana Odi Adjei, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the Tema Collection, gave the assurance during a Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) meeting.

She said the division was working feverishly to ensure that at least when UCL’s were prepared, they would be informed about those that were for transit, so that they could, in turn, inform the representatives of the various Chambers of Commerce for Niger, Mali, and the others.

She said with that, the representatives would be aware of the transit containers going on UCL to inform the importers or consignees.

Charles Okaijah Noah, a member of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) implementation team under Ghana Link Network Services, encouraged stakeholders to provide positive recommendations to the team to help enhance work growth.

He said Ghana Link doors were always opened for suggestions and improvement, and also available to answer questions related to ICUMS.

Nana Fredua Ofori-Atta, the Executive Secretary of the Council of Freight Forwarder Associations, urged the GRA and relevant stakeholders to balance revenue maximisation with trade facilitation to increase traffic through the ports.

He said that even though Ghana was in the middle of a recession, the GRA Customs Division should tamper revenue maximisation with trade facilitation to bring back the traders who had dive.

Mr Stephen Adu, the Head of Import Inspection at the Ghana Standards Authority, gave a presentation on the statistics on trade compliance for the years 2022 and 2023.

Stakeholders during the JCCC meeting discussed ways of improving trade facilitation and promoting effective collaboration among them in the port clearance chain.

The JCCC is made up of representatives from key stakeholder groups in the maritime sector, such as the Customs Division of GRA, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Link Network Services, Meridian Port Services, the Council of Freight Forwarders Associations, the Ghana Standard Authority, and the Food and Drugs Authority, among other agencies.