The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has partnered the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNET) to address bottlenecks raised by manufacturers concerning the recently introduced electronic concession application platform.
The online portal was introduced in February, 2016, by the GRA to assist manufacturers to submit their concession applications and clear their goods at the ports with ease.
Until the introduction of the online system, manufacturers and their agents had to join long queues to submit hard copies of the required documents after which they had to obtain a printed approval letter which they could use for clearing their goods at the ports.
Since the introduction of the electronic system, applications of manufacturers have been approved within a shorter period than was the case with the previous manual system.
However, some manufacturers have raised concerns since the inception of the new system with some asking for the use of the manual system alongside the electronic platform.
Seminar
At a day’s seminar for manufacturers under the Accra Collection of Customs Division, some of the participants expressed their frustrations during the filling of the application forms which they claimed was cumbersome.
The seminar was organised by the GRA Customs Division, Accra Collection, in collaboration with the GCNET, for registered manufacturers in the catchment area to address some of the challenges they were facing.
The Chief Revenue Officer in Charge of General Duties, Customs Division, Accra Collection, Mrs Theresa Kyei-Asare, explained that the electronic system was introduced to facilitate submissions and approvals of concession application forms.
However, she said since the beginning of the online application system, there had been what she described as teething problems for which she expressed the belief the interaction with the manufacturers would help find lasting solutions to.
She urged the manufacturers to embrace the system which enables them to have waivers on their concessions.
Document
Taking the participants through the procedures of obtaining concessions, The Deputy Manager of the TradeNet Department of GCNET stated that every manufacturer was expected to have some documentation before they could complete the application.
He listed the documents needed as a valid licence, certificates and permits such as company’s code, statement of composition, income tax certificate, police clearance form report, Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) certification, fire certificate, building permit, site plan and directional map.
Additionally, he said optional documents may be required depending on the manufacturer involved. These include the Narcotic Control Board Special Permit, certificate to commence business, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certificates.
Such documents, which must be valid, he explained, would enable the manufacturer to create a master document list for prompt approval.
According to him, if after the submission of such documents the system detects they are not valid, the submission would be rejected.
He said manufacturers would also have to submit a list of the raw materials they used and their end products.
Manufacturers
Later in an interview, the Chief Revenue Officer in charge of the Manufacturers, Accra Collection, Mrs Jessie Hesse-Odamtten, said a number of manufacturers in the jurisdiction of the Accra Collection were yet to register on the new electronic platform.
She said so far 200 of the manufacturers had registered on the online platform as required and urged others who had not registered to do so since the manual system had been faded out.
The Accra Collection Office is currently one of the 13 collection points of the GRA Customs Division responsible for excise activities and the registration of all sales tax.
It has a staff strength of 187 and controls 215 bonded warehouses, 386 manufacturers and 55 Free Zones companies.
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