Tallying Of Vessels To Start At Tema Port

Tallying of all vessels arriving at the Tema Port will be conducted by the Special Operations Unit of the Office of the President from Monday, February 24, 2014.

The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) will, therefore, be required to submit out-turn reports to the unit 48 hours after tallying sales.

An out-turn report is a detailed report prepared by a discharging terminal to record discrepancies in the form of over, short, and damaged cargo as manifested, and cargo checked at a time and place of discharge from ship.

A statement from the Presidency said the unit was also to check manifested weights and quantities of goods arriving at the port through a joint examination with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The statement, signed by a presidential staffer, Dr Clement Apaak, said “the goods shall include those earmarked for bonded warehouses and other regimes”.

It said the unit would also verify the axle load of both local and foreign vehicles used for the re-exportation of steel and other products to neighbouring countries in accordance with regulations established by the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) for the years in question.
Audit

The statement said the unit would also undertake post-event audit of previous transactions of all regimes by importers on the Ghana Customs Management System.

It, however, assured importers that the measures were not aimed at targeting any importer, but rather to curtail the fraudulent practices of under-declaration and under-valuation of goods that had become rampant at the ports.

“The Special Operations Unit will like to state without equivocation that it will impose appropriate penalties on defaulters and prosecute others where necessary,” the statement added.

It also called on all Ghanaians to co-operate with the unit to make the operation a success.