Ghana Link Network Services Ltd (GLNS), the Ghanaian-owned company was incorporated in 2001 and initially went into the business of destination inspection in 2003 and continued to expand on its product lines around cross border trade and continue to evolve.
GLNS in partnership with the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority spearheaded the implementation of the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) under the framework of the UNIPASS solution, an end-to-end trade facilitation, cargo inventory management, security protection and Revenue enhancement solution.
ICUMS was born out of a strategic partnership between GLNS CUPIA to provide solutions to government. In order for a country to facilitate trade, maximize and ultimately optimize revenue collection as well as ensure safety and security at the borders, it needs a comprehensive and modern trade facilitation solution to manage these functions effectively and efficiently.
On a global scale therefore, the Korea Customs Management System (UNIPASS) provides a holistic solution that ensures a paperless working environment, revenue assurance and safety and security. It is based on high achievements of the UNIPASS that ICUMS was born out of the system.
The technology has been built to suit the need of Ghana; the government changed the name from UNI-PASS to the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).
The Korea UNI-PASS is internationally recognised for protection of intellectual property (IPR) and this is critical for Ghana, especially as the government through the Ministry of Trade leads a new age of industrialization by working hard to set up factories in all the districts in Ghana, known as the One District One Factory (1D1F).
It is a modern and world-class technology acknowledged by international bodies such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Bank, and World Economic Forum (WEF), which is used to facilitate trade, ensure supply chain security and increase revenue.
ICUMS also offers importers and exporters an integrated system of filing all documents and helps businesses to send information regarding consignment simultaneously to each agency concerned for swift response in trade facilitation.
Through the clearance management system in the ICUMS, all customs businesses are currently conducted in a paperless environment with real time cargo tracking through the cargo management system (CMS) whilst it is able to collect bills of lading from shipping lines and agents as well as airway bills airlines. Consignments can be tracked by authorized person with various tracking numbers and options.
It is important to point out that with ICUMS provides all stakeholders the ability to access relevant information as well as able to check the status of the cargo at each stage of the cargo clearance chain.
By way of information, the ICUMS was first deployed from the start of March 2020 at selected customs land frontiers. The next phase of deployment was at Takoradi Port from April 1, 2020. Kotoka International Airport (KIA) also went live from April at the close of the month of April, 2020.
The next phase of deployment before going live nationwide was done in May 2020, for downstream petroleum operations. The final phase of the deployment at Tema Port and the rest of the country on June 1, 2020. The deployment of the ICUMS has covered all customs regimes and processes for sea, air, land import, export and transit-related transactions.
In terms of capacity building, we have trained over 2,000 internal stakeholders, made up of customs officers, internal auditors and post-clearance audit staff, as well as some 5,500 external stakeholders which include freight forwarders.
The aim of the ICUMS is to continue to build strong partnership with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) as well as other stakeholder to organise cross –border trade information and appropriately make it available to all users for the purpose of revenue collection enhancement, protection of National Security, as well as facilitation of genuine trade.
In the past 3 full months since the nationwide deployment of ICUMS, revenue collection has increased significantly.
In just three months of operation, the ICUMS according to the ICUMS implementation team chairman, who is also the Sector Commander of James Town Collection of Customs, AC Emmanuel Ohene, the system had generated some GH₵4.6 billion as part of the GH₵6.9 billion collected by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) between January and August 2020.
ICUMS processed more than 193,000 bills of entry (BOEs) from March to August 2020. In this, Pre-Manifest Declaration (PMD) constituted 86.71percent and 46.02percent of BOE exited. Tema Collection processed 47.07percent, KIA Collection – 16.07percent, Aflao -9.67percent, and Bolga – 9.15percent.
To conclude, ICUMS provides the required tools that makes cross border trading activities faster, simpler, more effective and efficient. ICUMS seeks to offer an ideal trade management solution that provide a distinct positive impact on the day-to-day operations of ports by proving the users with complete and timely information, important notifications as well as accurate analysis of data.
Timely exchange of accurate and proper information with suppliers, customers and other stakeholders ensures benefits for all stakeholders and the country as a whole. In the simplest form, ICUMS solution organises cross border trade information and make the information promptly and easily available to all authorised users and stakeholders.