Greater Accra Regional Shipper Committee discusses ICUMS and INCOTERMS

The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) has organised the third quarter meeting for members of the Greater Accra Regional Shipper Committee (GARSC) at the Ghana Shippers’ House on 23rd September, 2020.

The meeting, the 109th in the series since the establishment of the GARSC, discussed the relevance of the International Commercial Terms (Incoterms) 2020 in international trade and the prospects of the newly-introduced  Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)-Customs Division.

The Chairperson of the West African Branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), Mrs Gertrude Ohene-Asienim encouraged the shippers to use the right Incoterms in their trade transactions.

This, she said, will bring clarity to obligations of contracting parties involved in trade, significantly reduce negotiation time, eradicate arguments about who to blame when goods get damaged or lost during transit and also show commercial professionalism when dealing with suppliers outside the shores of Ghana.

“Incoterms are the single most effective measure to reduce risk and exposure in relation to delivery of goods.”, she stressed.

Mrs. Ohene-Asienim informed the shippers of the validity of all old contracts between trade parties under Incoterms® 2010. However, she implored them to consider using Incoterms® 2020 in all their current negotiations.

For her part, a Senior Revenue Officer of the GRA-Customs and a member of the ICUMS Task Force Team, Mrs. Esther Amekudzi said even though the new customs management system was developed to reduce clearance costs and time in line with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Trade Facilitation Agreement, it is experiencing some technical challenges.

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She appealed for calm as GRA-Customs and all stakeholders work around the clock to address the challenges to enable users enjoy the full complement and benefits of ICUMS.

Over 60 representatives from companies, trade associations, MDAs and other stakeholders participated in the sensitisation forum.  The GARSC is one of the 10 Regional Shipper Committees established by the GSA to bring together shippers, trade-related agencies, service providers and other relevant stakeholders in the shipping and logistics industry to discuss pertinent issues affecting the industry for redress.