The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) is demanding an immediate suspension of the recently deployed Publican AI System by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
They bemoaned the frustrations members encounter, citing excessive and unsustainable duty assessments and breaches of international valuation principles.
Barely months after its deployment, the Publican AI System has started receiving negative feedback from importers.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) deployed this AI tool in February with the intention of detecting undervaluation, flagging high-risk goods, and strengthening the capacity of customs operations.
According to the government, the Publican AI will enhance revenue mobilization and tackle customs fraud. But importers are frustrated with the new technology.
Speaking at a press conference in Takoradi, the Western Regional Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Paul Ato Bentil, stressed that the reliance on values generated by the Publican AI system is inconsistent with international valuation principles under the World Customs Organization framework.
“The current directive effectively imposes AI-generated values as a minimum threshold for customs valuation. This approach is inconsistent with the provisions of the Customs Act 2015 (Act 892), particularly Sections 67 and 68, which establish the transaction value as the primary basis for valuation and prescribe a sequential methodology for alternative methods,” he said.
“This practice is not aligned with internationally accepted customs valuation principles under the World Customs Organisation framework, which prohibits the use of arbitrary or minimum values.”
Another troubling development they flagged is the re-centralization of the Customs Technical Services Bureau (CTSB). National Council Member of GIFF, Derick Prince-Agbodjan, finds this move retrogressive and detrimental to operations and revenue performance, particularly at the Takoradi Port.
“If everything has to be done at the head office in Accra, what then is the rationale for having a Port in Takoradi? Their re-centralizing of the CTSB will increase their revenues…it is not so! Rather, it will deplete clearance in Takoradi,” he emphasized.
They insist that the re-centralized CTSB will create unnecessary congestion and delays at the head office.
“We cannot build a 24-hour economy with a one-door decision trap! We cannot speak of trade facilitation while concentrating discretion in a way that slows release, raises demurrage exposure, increases uncertainty and weakens operational planning for traders and agents.”
The group is also questioning a move by the Ghana Shippers Authority that will add a layer of regulation to their operations, on top of the already existing regulation by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Former Chairman of GIFF in the Western Region, William Ato Johnson, clarified that they have been licensed and regulated by Customs to undertake customs business.
“The Shippers Authority is trying to put in an Act to also regulate us. The question is, how can two entities regulate one party? If it is Customs, let it be…it’s like they [Ghana Shippers Authority] are trying to regulate everybody,” he lamented.
They have vowed to escalate their action into a series of coordinated industrial actions across the country if the government does not intervene.
By Abraham Mensah
