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The entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in January will add more responsibility to Customs administrations in Africa, said Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GAR).
He said that it would be prudent for the Customs Administrations of the continent to have additional resources to carry out their functions diligently.
Owusu-Amoah said this in a speech read on his behalf at the first AfCFTA Directors General / Chiefs of Customs Meeting in Accra.
He said that as the time for the implementation of the Agreement approached, there was a need for clear political direction on the uniform application of customs provisions in the agreement by the States parties.
The meeting under the auspices of the AfCFTA Secretariat focused on the theme: “Implementation of the AfCFTA Customs Provisions”.
Mr. Owusu-Amoah said that Ghana is proud to host the Secretariat and that the nation is committed to ensuring that the goals and objectives of the AfCFTA are achieved.
He said that from March 2016 until now, customs and trade experts had been meeting to develop a protocol, annexes and appendices to the framework agreement for the final take-off of the AfCFTA, adding that it was time to put everything that was had developed in AfCFTA.
“At the Ghana Customs and Revenue Authority, in particular, we are ready for the implementation of the customs-related annexes and appendices to the Protocol on Trade in Goods,” he said.
He said that the GRA had developed a strategic plan: ‘Roadmap to Excellence’ with a revised vision and its five fundamental strategic pillars: increasing revenue, improving national tax and customs compliance, leveraging technology, improving administrative efficiency and develop and build a performance-driven system. motivated professional staff.
He said that Ghana was ready to leverage these strategic pillars to achieve the goals and objectives of the AfCFTA.
He emphasized that the traditional role of customs as a revenue mobilizing agency was rapidly fading towards trade facilitation and trade promotion in line with modern business practices.
Owusu-Amoah said that these functions were equally important to their national development, as this could become a cascade to increase revenue in mobilizing national taxes if trade is facilitated.
The Secretary General of AfCFTA, Mr. Wamkele Mene, thanked the Government of Ghana for hosting the Secretariat, stating that the Government had provided all the support and facilities they needed to begin their work.
He said that the agreement that established the AfCFTA provided for a Committee of Chiefs of Customs, which would play an advisory role in the AU Council of Trade Ministers.
He said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, they would ensure that the implementation of the AfCFTA starts from January 1, 2021.
The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, in a virtual speech, said that over the years the WCO had worked with the AU and its Directors General / Heads of Customs Administrations in support of the AfCFTA project because it represented the continent’s hope to bring stability and prosperity to the borders.
“Borders have divided the African continent, but are now expected to connect families and individuals by boosting intra-African trade,” he said.
