A pressure group, COALITION FOR TRANSPARENCY AT PORTS AND HARBOURS has waded into the controversial Cargo Tracking Note system issue which implementation started on Monday, October,15, 2018 saying the CTN policy is the sure way to securing the country’s economy.

The group expressed their appreciation to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the government of Ghana for taking a bold step in rolling out CTN policy.

A statement by the coalition said:” As a group, we will admonish that CTN is not politicized…we have assessed and weighed the Objectives of CTN and strongly believe it will be a mistake for Ghana or Ghanaians not to support the GRA or State with regards to the implementation.”

It continued: “What the CTN stands for in Ghana is a secured supply chain, theft prevention, reduction in insurance, faster clearance of goods, less screening, less documentation, better risk proofing and it also represents a proactive anti-terrorism paradigm.”

The implementation started at the sea ports on Monday, 15 October 2018, despite a suit challenging its implementation.

Per the policy, importers whose imports, from records exceed thirty-six (36) Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per year will be required to obtain a CTN Number in the country of export.

“This means, any importer who imports less than 36 TEUs per year is exempted from CTN-compliance. Further, businesses that import more than 36 TEUs per year but can demonstrate that the nature of their imports and their turnovers make them small importers, will be exempted,” the notice said.

Below is the full statement:

We as a group have been rooting for the implementation of CTN for a very long time, and would like to use this medium to express our appreciation to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the government of Ghana for the bold step taken to roll out this policy (pilot stage).

We also thank all the major stakeholders GUTA, GIFF, FFIA etc..for their immense contribution in shaping the implementation process with regards to all their concerns raised which were duly acknowledged. Ghana is the winner!!

Now, what is CTN and what is CTN bringing to Ghana as a whole?
We in CTPH believe that our quest to champion the implementation of CTN in Ghana offers us a major role in disseminating the right information, educating Ghanaians as a whole and ensuring the whole process (CTN) is well understood. CTN we believe is the solution, and we shall take our time to give Ghanaians vivid and concrete reasons with explanations to support our stand and why CTN should be embraced by every Ghanaian.

Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) or the ECTN (Electronic Cargo Tracking Note), introduced worldwide in 2001 following the infamous September 11th attacks on the USA, serving as a means of improving security around maritime shipments, is an advanced notification in order to improve the security of the supply chain. Simply put, CTN is a system for collecting documents and processing information when importing/exporting by sea in order to obtain prior information to participate in security measures, resources planification, statistics, and more generally in order to participate in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) recommendations on trade facilitation and security.

Furthermore, in accordance with the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards for international cooperation between its member states for security of ships and port facilities, the “ISPS” code was introduced and is now of global maritime security policies. Ghana is a member of the aforementioned organization after joining it in 1959 and binded by every directive as well.

The second obligation of the new provision implies on the part of each signatory countries; that in the context of international maritime cooperation, which consists of organizing data, processing on all shipments and all vessels departing to a final destination. This is where the CTN comes in. At the destination, the CTN is used to initiate an analysis of the cargo, define a security level for vessels prior to their arrival, increase the protection of ports against terror attack and be able to improve the Customs valuation of the goods and freight.

As a group, we have assessed and weighed the Objectives of CTN and strongly believe it will be a mistake for Ghana or Ghanaians not to support the GRA or State with regards to the implementation.
Below are some of the Objectives of CTN for your perusal

1. CTN is to improve the security and safety of supply chain and help Customs see a detailed profile of products we are bringing in as a country.

2. The CTN is in fact a very useful instrument now that we are in a terrorist regime as there is crisis all over the world today. Though Ghana hasn’t yet come under any attack like our neighbouring countries Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Burkina etc, we cannot afford to ignore anything that will enhance maritime security and beyond maritime, we have to seriously take a cursory look at supply chain security. CTN will help us know the *origin* and *destination* of cargoes and help us know our enemies. Our enemies may be far away and stockpiling, with the CTN, we will be able to fish out these anomalies.

3. CTN will reduce the entire time spent along the supply chain and this also reduces the hassle that various stakeholders have to pass through. Even anxiety can be a big problem by causing a lot of delay but if we can attain a level of accuracy to predict by having a profile of every shipment, it expedites the way we handle things and the process enhances the turnover which brings immense benefits in business in general terms.

With the above mentioned, there are more benefits with regards to CTN which we shall address in the days ahead with a press conference to affirm our stand on why every Ghanaian has to rally behind the State to make CTN a success. Some of the benefits of the CTN are as follows:
1. Asset Tracking
2. On Board Status monitoring,
3. Gateway Facilitation,
4.Freight Status information,
5.Network Status information,
6. Fight against the import of illegal, fake or cheap products
7. Fight against under invoicing, under valuation
8. Fairness and equity in import/export duty charges
9. Increase Government revenue in terms of Import duty charges as realistic taxes will be accrued by the state
10. A safe and secured import system in Ghana

As a group, we will admonish that CTN is not politicized because it is a critical step in securing Ghana’s economy. We also advocate for continuous engagement with critical stakeholders in the industry as this remains crucial to the overall success of this noble initiative.

What the CTN stands for in Ghana is a secured supply chain, theft prevention, reduction in insurance, faster clearance of goods, less screening, less documentation, better risk proofing and it also represents a proactive anti-terrorism paradigm. In a nutshell, the CTN brings all the critical stakeholders to check. This is what Ghana needs, Ghana will succeed. CTN Akwaaba!!

SIGNED
……………………..
BENJAMIN EFFAH AMPONSAH
(CHAIRMAN )

ISAAC ESSUMAN
(SECRETARY)

FREDDY KING DODOU
(PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER)
0206364717/0240549464