The Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA, has assured the general public that the GCNet Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) services will begin operations effective Wednesday, 29th April, 2020.
According to GRA, they are currently in consultation with the management of GCNet to restore the system.
The Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) provides the Ghana Customs, Excise and Preventive Service with a fully integrated computerised system for the processing and management of Customs Declarations and related activities, whiles the Ghana Community Network (GCNet) is a platform enabling GCMS to share data with all the parties involved in the processing of trade documents and customs clearance.
An official statement issued by the GRA on Tuesday, 28 April, 2020, and signed by the Ag. Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, said, “It has come to the notice of the Management of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) that Customs House Agents / declarants are facing some challenges processing their Customs documents on the Integrated Customs Management Systems (ICUMS).
They further added that “the discussions are almost concluded and Management is hopeful that the GCNet GCMS will be operational by Wednesday, 29 April 2020.” On Monday April 28, the Ghana Revenue Authority officially deployed the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) otherwise known as Uni-Pass at all the frontier stations and ports of entry in the country.
The ICUMS, which replaces the systems operated by West Blue Consulting and the Ghana Community Service Network Limited (GCNet), is an upgraded electronic clearing platform that operates as a single entity to provide an end-to-end customs administration.
The UNIPASS/ICUMS platform is a new port clearing system that processes documents and payments through one window: a departure from the previous system where valuation and classification and risk management and payment were handled by different entities.
CUPIA Korea, which is assisting the Customs Division to implement the UNIPASS system, has described it as an enhanced single window system for trade facilitation.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiBuss
