Ghana's Exports At Risk

Ghana’s efforts at increasing exports have received a major boost as authorities move to strengthen the issuance of certificates of origin to exporters.

The issuance of the certificates which used to be done manually has now been partly automated whereby all requests and payments are done electronically, subject to approval of all stakeholders, before they are issued.

Certificate of Origin is a document used in international trade which confirms the origin of an imported product into another country. It is meant for tariff purposes and in compliance with World Trade Organisation (WTO) Rules of Origin for granting preferential treatments to countries that qualify, mostly found in developing countries.

The issuance of the certificate in Ghana was bedeviled with fraud, as some unscrupulous exporters circumvent the issuing authority to obtain dubious documentation, a practice that could harm exports from Ghana. This has brought about frequent enquiries from the European Union and other countries that offer the preferential treatments to verify the authenticity of some of the certificates.

The automation means that buyers who import products from Ghana would now have the confidence that the products originate from the shores of the country and to clear doubts that Ghana was not only being used as a re-shipment point to avoid the payment of duties and taxes based on the scheme of preferential treatments.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mr. Salathiel Doe Amegavie, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that the automation of requests and payments for the certificates, through the electronic platform offered by the Ghana Community Network Services Ltd (GCNet), was the first step in fully automating the entire system.

The Executive Secretary of the issuing authority explained that the inability for a full-scale launch was partly due to the fact that the rest of ECOWAS did not have the kind of system that existed in Ghana through the GCNet platform.

Because preferential treatments amount to revenue losses to the countries and trading blocs offering them such as the European Union (under the ACP-EU Convention) and the United States (under the AGOA Programme) or among ECOWAS Member States through their trade protocols), the authorities there consider breaches seriously and often punish their citizen importers for breaches of the preferential treatment (quota- and/or duty-free access), a move that would in turn blacklist exports from Ghana and hurt non-traditional exports in particular.

Importers from such countries therefore insist on genuine certificates of origin for them to escape punishments.

Mr Amegavie said the automation by GCNet had started yielding dividends on which it would build, by improving its infrastructure, training more personnel and expanding its coverage. Consequently, he said, GNCCI was refurbishing its offices at the exit points including Accra, Tema, Takoradi, Elubo, Kumasi and very soon in Aflao, to enable them to issue the certificates there.

Between the start of the automation on April 18 and May 28, 2011, the issuing authority had issued 2,937 certificates, up from 2023 for the same period last year, over 30 per cent increase. This means increased revenue for the issuing body, the elimination of fraud and an improved data capture for various purposes.

“If we are able to open offices in all the exit points, we would have covered more areas and this will be a boost to our exports,” the Executive Secretary of GNCCI said.

He urged exporters that for them to gain easy market access, they should obtain the certificates only from the GNCCI offices, which had the authority to issue them.

The automation is currently being done under the e-Governance Programme which is meant to improve trade facilitation and the ease of doing business in the country.

The Deputy General Manager of GCNet, Mr Emmanuel Darko, confirmed the breakthrough, which he said had also contributed to raising the revenue level for the GNCCI because it had minimised fraud.

“With this resounding success, I strongly believe that the full implementation of the system should be pursued and completed by January next year to enable the country secure the integrity of her Certificates of Origin”.

Mr Darko said besides its ability to improve the revenue position of the GNCCI to perform its advocacy function, the automation would also help the Chamber to generate authentic market information data which would help its members to plan, identify new markets and attract investors to the relevant businesses in the country.