Assistant Commissioner of Customs and head of the ICUMS project, Emmanuel Ohene, has revealed that the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) has pooled revenue worth GHS4.6 billion at the country’s various entry points as at the end of August 2020.
Addressing the media, Mr. Ohene iterated the fact that the success being chalked as a result of the new system implementation was due to resolved initial challenges.
“From January to August, year to date for Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, we have brought in a revenue of GHS 6.9 billion and with the introduction of the newly Integrated Customs Management System, ICUMS, from March to August, the revenue accrued by the GRA is GHS4.6 billion”.
Additionally, he noted that ICUMS, has also recorded some 193,000 Bills of Entry (BOEs) on the new clearance platform.
“Per operational statistics, more than 193,000 Bill of entries (BOEs) have been processed from March to August 2020 with pre-Manifest Declaration (PMD) constituting 86.71%. 46.02% of the bill of entry were exited. Tema Collection processed 47.07%, Kotoka International Airport Collection processed 16.07%, Aflao collection point recorded 9.67% whiles the Bolga collection point had 9.15%”.
This comes after the system, also known as UNIPASS, successfully processed more than 193,000 Bills of Entry (BOEs) from Custom house agents and freight forwarders during the same period.
ICUMS taking over port transactions
The Integrated Customs Management Systems (ICUMS) was set up by UNIPASS at the Tema Port following a successful simulation in May this year when the new system management was taken over from GCNET and West Blue.
The new platform at the ports is a clearing system that processes documents and payments through one window: a withdrawal from the previous system where valuation and classification and risk management and payment were handled by different entities.
Ghana Link Network Services, the company spearheading the deployment of the Integrated Customs Management Systems (ICUMS), says the new electronic customs management system is Ghana’s best bet in deploying end-to-end single window.
The company has a 10-year contract with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and partnered Korea Customs to introduce UNI-PASS in Ghana.
UNIPASS which is expected to address key challenges at the ports also replaces the existing service providers, GCNet, which has operated for nearly 17 years, and West Blue Consulting.
Challenges with ICUMS
The new system faced some challenges in the past causing some freight forwarders at the Tema Port to vent over the implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) which they blame for increased rent charges and demurrage.
According to them, their protest against the ICUMS is against the implementation of an ‘absurd system’ and not political.
Mr. John Kweku Mensah, a council member of the Ghana Freight Forwarders Association said it was not fair that importers were being made to pay for the cost of an inefficient system which was ‘fraught with delays’.
Mr. John Kweku Mensah, a council member of the Ghana Freight Forwarders Association expressed his frustration over the problems posed by the new system.
“We are facing a lot of problems, this is not political. This is because we need help. We don’t care about who is operating a system, we just want a system that works normally like the one GCNet was operating. The system must flow for us because all of us are paying huge rent and demurrage even though it is not our fault”.
