The Ghana Revenue Authority has described as misleading, some comments made by the President of IMANI Africa that Ghana’s ports have been de-degitised to the pre-2002 manual era.

According to a statement by the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Communications and Public Affairs, Florence Asante, it is not true that port operations have reverted to the pre-2002 manual system.

She said all transactions from 1 June 2020 have been processed through ICUMS/UNIPASS system.

The statement emphasised that the manual process was resorted to for addressing transactions that commenced in GCMS/GCNET but had not been cleared before 1 June 2020.

This mitigation strategy, it pointed out, was needed because GCNET did not provide data for those transactions in the right format.

“The manual process was resorted to for addressing transactions that commenced in GCMS/GCNET but had not been cleared before 1 June 2020. This mitigation strategy was needed because GCNET did not provide data for those transactions in the right format.”

Additionally, it argues that: “It is inaccurate to state that ICUMS has no established values for customs valuation, adding, GRA valuation methods are based on section 67 of the Customs Act 2015, Act 891, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) valuation protocols.

“Over time, GRA has built a Transactional Pricing Database that serves as a reference for valuation. ICUMS has the Transactional Pricing Database fully integrated into its system”.

The statement, however, added that all efforts are being made to resolve the few challenges with the urgency that they deserved.

The GRA also said it welcomed any constructive criticisms that may be offered by IMANI, in as much as they would contribute toward the successful implementation of ICUMS.