The Head of Export Documentation at the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Charles Ntri has noted that introduction of the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) System in April 2011 has reduced the documentation of fake Certificates of Origin from exporters.
He explained that the Certificate of Origin is a document that certifies the place of production or manufacture of goods – the document is required when exporting products to specific countries after it has been requested by the consignee.
“Previously, exporters were issued with fake certificates which created bad image for the country,” he added.
He cited incidents in February and March last year when his outfit received 57 certificates, of which 31 were fake and the rest not stamped and signed.
In an interaction with exporters in Takoradi, Mr. Ntri explained that with the advent of the GCNet which has automated the certification process, the cases of fake certificates has been minimised.
He indicated that export documentation is one of the main functions of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and that it is important to ensure processes that an exporter goes through are what is required.
“In the West Africa sub-region, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Policy allows goods that are accompanied by certificate of origin to enter member-states without paying any duty,” he added.
On payment systems which enable the exporter to generate a code and is less time-consuming, he said more banks will be added to the payment centres.
He advised exporters to buy their certificates in bulk: “When you buy the certificates in bulk and the time comes for you to obtain your certificate of origin, you just have to provide the necessary information, scan and send through our office so that by the time you get there, it would have been printed out, signed as well as stamped.”
This, he noted, makes the process very simple and less stressful.
By Juliet AGUIAR, Takoradi
