The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has deployed nationwide its new Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) effective Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
A letter announcing the commencement of the new system directs that all bills of entry (BOEs)–which are the general information on imported cargo based on which Customs could assign the total value and its corresponding duty payable–are to be processed through the ICUMS at all customs frontier stations in the country.
It further revealed that the third phase of ICUMS deployment, involving the Kotoka International Airport and Tema started from 20th April, 2020, with Jamestown and the Petroleum sector expected to complement the entire ICUMS roll-out.
“Accordingly, all Customs House Agents/Declarants operating in all Customs offices are entreated to process all billsof entry (BOEs) in ICUMS,” a notice sent to all agents and self-declarants stated.
The letter also said existing declarations being processed in the GCMS–which is run by GCNet–for which payment of taxes have not been effected yet, declarations for permits and e-MDA approvals obtained before April 28 as well as all other goods and vehicles, including overstayed cargo for processing has not closed, will be reprocessed through the ICUMS.
According to Customs Division of the GRA, the ICUMS system is “the best end-to-end customs management system available.”