Tema, June 1, GNA – Stakeholders at the Tema Port on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with the operations of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), one year after its introduction.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) introduced ICUMS, which is being manned by Ghana Link Network Services Limited, as part of the paperless system on June 1, 2020, as a single-window system.
It replaced the then Ghana Customs Management System under GCNet and West Blue.
ICUMS introduction on June 01, 2020, came with some initial hitches as freight forwarders complained about inadequate knowledge about how the system would operate, but one year after stakeholders say it was a good system.
Mr Johnny Mantey, Tema Vice Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), in an interview with the Ghana News Agency to assess the one-year operations of ICUMS, said although the launch of the ICUMS was rough, it had performed quite well.
Mr Mantey, who is also the GIFF’s Technical Chairperson, it was good for ICUMS to have extended its services to all entry points across the country.
He said, “I have travelled around the country and have seen ICUMS everywhere that there is a border even at the smallest places. We formerly don’t have anything like that at our borders.”
He said ICUMS presence had made revenue collection at Ghana’s entry points easy and efficient.
Mr Mantey said with the introduction of ICUMS at the borders, freight forwarders across the country had work to do at the borders and not only at the ports.
He urged the management of ICUMS to continuously upgrade the system to meet modern trends while taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to increase revenue.
Mr Samson Awingobit Asaki, Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, on his part told the GNA in Tema that it was in the right direction to congratulate the technical team and management for the successful running of ICUMS.
Mr Asaki said “with all the pressure we stakeholders mounted on them yet they demonstrated to us that they were capable to deliver. They have been prompt in responding to all our queries.”
He said during the one year, management was prompt in their communication with stakeholders on any shut down for maintenance, saying that “they always inform us ahead of maintenance and they make sure that they work within the stipulated time, for us that is good because in the past it wasn’t like that.”
“They came in at a very difficult and challenging period, and we thought they could not deliver but they have surprised us all, they should keep up the good work.”
GNA