New System To Boost Revenue Collection

The Customs, Exercise and Preventive Service (CEPS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, has commissioned a Customs Secure Documents Management System (CSDMS) center in Accra.

The facility, situated at the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) premises, is intended to fast-track the documentation of trade and business information submitted by stakeholders of CEPS.

The computerized system would help minimize human interference in the preparation and submissions of trade documentation and also maximize revenue for socio-economic development.

It will also check submissions as they are being made and prompt users when there is a mistake in entry. Stakeholders can also use the facility to check the status of their submissions.

Emmanuel Doku, the Commissioner of CEPS, said the system would help to ensure security and maintain the true content of trade documents, adding, “It will also retain originality and correctness from a source."

He said the aim of the system was to secure documents from being tampered with or altered in any unauthorized manner.

He added, “In no time CEPS would be provided with additional electronic tools which would facilitate both the compliance and verification of processes and documentation.”

George Kweku Ofori, President of Ghana Union of Traders' Association (GUTA), thanked CEPS for providing the system at the association's headquarters and called on members to make good use of it since it was free-of-charge.

By Patrick Baidoo