Some editors and senior reporters from the various media houses across the country have been schooled on migration to paperless transactions at the country’s ports.
The move, according to officials from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), forms part of Ghana’s National Single Window Project in Accra.
The journalists were taken through the different stages of process from the pre-arrival stage to the exit point.
The system when implemented will make it possible for importers to sit in the comfort of their offices and get customs clearance.
Every activity will be fed into the risk engine to enable the system to keep a record of importers.
Addressing the media, the Commissioner General of GRA, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Nti, called for increased collaboration from all citizens, especially the media, to help make the migration to paperless transaction at the ports successful.
He was certain that paperless clearing of goods and processing of documents at the twin ports will help eliminate bureaucracy, and reduce time wasting and cut out fraud and other corrupt practices that have long engulfed activities at the ports, and also lead to increased revenue and a proper image for Ghana in the eyes of global investors.
Mr. Nti explained that when the project is rolled out in 1st September 2017, the various trade facilitation institutions at the ports will be expected to operate from one unit while documents pertaining to the clearance of goods or exports at the Tema and Takoradi ports will no longer be done through paper.
He bemoaned that Ghana currently was lagging behind in ensuring that electronic platforms replace paper at the ports.
The GRA boss hinted that measures were being put in place to rope in Kotoka International Airport (KIA), and other points of entry into the paperless transaction project.
Story: Franklin Asare-Donkoh