A Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) meeting has been held to discuss ways of improving trade facilitation and promoting effective collaboration among stakeholders in the port clearance chain.

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

The Assistant Commissioner of Customs at the Tema Collection, Christiana Odi Adjei, has assured the commitment of the Customs Commission to resolving the challenges associated with the issues of uncleared cargo list (UCL).

“We are working feverishly to ensure that at least when the UCL is prepared, we will be informed about those that are for Transit so that we can intend to inform the representatives of the various Chamber of Commerce for Niger, Mali and the other people so that they are also aware that these are Transit containers that are going on UCL so that the importers or consignees can be informed about the containers,” she assured.

A member of the ICUMS implementation team under the Ghana Link Network Services, Charles Okaijah Noah in his remarks encouraged stakeholders to provide positive recommendations that will enhance work growth.

“We also want to say that our doors are always open for any suggestions for improvement and we are also here to answer questions related to some issues that may be bothering you that you believe there should be an improvement,” he noted.
The Executive Secretary of the Council of Freight Forwarder Associations, Nana Fredua Ofori-Atta, urged the GRA and relevant stakeholders to balance revenue maximization with trade facilitation so as to increase traffic through the ports.

“Even though we are in the middle of a recession, GRA Customs should tamper revenue maximization with trade facilitation in order to bring back the traders who have diverted course to our neighbouring ports,” he advised.

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

The Stakeholder Engagement Manager at the Meridian Port Services, Charles Osafo during the meeting presented the operational challenges that his outfit is facing.