The Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) has held its first quarterly meeting of the year with the representatives of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali Shippers’ Councils.
The meeting which took place in Tema on 12th March, 2019 deliberated on the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) and its impact on transit trade.
Mr. Geoffery Cole, a consultant of the CTN told the Councils’ representatives about the objectives and purpose of the CTN. These include the provision of critical information for processing Ghana’s international trade for enhanced revenue generation, stopping illegal transfers and repatriation of profits and the security of the country’s international logistics chain.
He said the CTN would also play a key role in reducing the problem of diversion of transit cargo in Ghana since cargo destined for landlocked countries can be easily identified and tracked to their destinations.
CTN Ghana plans to work jointly with Burkina, Mali and Niger in the ongoing implementation of their CTNs by sharing information on common interests, consolidating gains and curbing threats that affect transit trade in Ghana.
The meeting called for a reconsideration of the payment of administrative charges by transit shippers in Ghana to save them from making same payments in their countries.
The CTN was introduced by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)- Customs Division to get advance information on import and transit cargo which are usually not captured in the cargo manifest. The system requires shippers to provide information on specificity in cargo description, HS codes, country of origin and the value of cargo before shipment.
