MR. WALLACE AKONDOR:
Commissioner
Customs Division-Ghana Revenue Authority











Fairness and efficiency
Increasing trade volumes versus Compliance
Low valuation compliance
Common valuation offences in Ghana
Some Commodities and associated offences
Trade mis-invoicing in Ghana
Ensuring fairness and efficiency in valuation
Resolution of valuation disputes
Strategies and skills
International Collaboration


Fairness is one of the canons of taxation

Efficient revenue collection by Customs is a way of maximizing revenue collection at minimal cost.


Increasing trade volumes and the requirement for speedy processing and facilitation.

Compliance levels are low

Need for Risk Management to ensure efficient resource allocation


Developing countries depend largely on Customs duties and taxes as the major practical source of revenue to finance government spending.

However, Customs administrations in these countries are confronted with low valuation compliance and prevalence of falsified trade documents.

Part of the Valuation function is undertaken by
DIC’s [ In Ghana there are five such Companies]

Submission of falsified invoices and other trade documents has often led to the following offences relating to some identified commodities:




Mis-invoicing
Wrong origin of goods
Misdescription
Misclassification

Commodity Underinvoicing
Rice
Sugar
Frozen chicken
Tomato paste
*
Ethyl alcohol *
Pasta *
Fruit juices *
*
*
*
*
*
Wrong
Origin
* *
*
*
*
*
Misdescription
Wrong HS code
*
*


Gross Illicit flows = $14.39bn (2002-2011)

Average of $1.44bn per annum

Constitutes 6.6% of GDP

Significant adverse impact on the fiscal balance over the period

Source: Global Financial Integrity Report May 2014


WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation (ACV) offers fair, uniform and neutral valuation.

The complexity of Customs valuation resulting from the application of the ACV and strict legal requirements calls for new strategies and specific skills to handle valuation issues.

Fairness in valuation will result in increasing levels of compliance, coupled with a risk management system would yield efficient revenue collection.


At the level of DIC’s
◦ Initial disputes are referred to DIC’s as a first recourse.

Internal mechanism to address appeals and disputes unresolved at the DIC level.
◦ Structured
◦ To ensure speedy resolution

•
Existence of a Valuation Technical Team.
•
Close collaboration between Valuation, PCA and Risk
Management.
•
Constant capacity building of Customs officers in the application of WCO tools.
•
Constant engagement with Stakeholders (Stakeholder
Engagement Strategy developed through WCO assistance)
•
Preparation underway to takeover outsourced valuation function from the five Destination Inspection Companies
(DICs) very soon.


Customs-to-Customs
◦ Mutual Administrative Assistance (MoU: Burkina
Faso, Cote d’Ivoire)

Bilateral/Multilateral Agreements
◦ South Africa, Netherlands (in progress)