Government has justified the exclusion of the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) from the list of inspection agencies at the Ports as it cuts down the numbers from 16 to 3.
Beginning next month the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority will be only inspection agencies at the Port to reduce time spent at the Ports.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Wednesday complained about how some Customs officials were extorting monies from importers and circumventing the system despite the introduction of the paperless system.
Spokesperson of the Office of the Vice President Dr Gideon Boako is confident the exclusion of NACOB will to a large extent reduce the delays.
“What we’ve realized is that the activities of the National Security and NACOB officials at some point was impeding the process and we realized that it is not all cases that their presence is required. So the caveat we’re issuing here is that NACOB and National Security will only come into play when they have intelligence that a particular container contains goods that are forbidden to be brought into the country.
“Without any intelligence purpose we think that the presence of the National Security and NACOB officials may obstruct the process and so we’ve asked them to stay away of the 16 group and monitor the operations. But when they have intelligence that a particular container ought to be investigated or inspected by them, then they come in so that it doesn’t become the routine that every container will have to be inspected by National Security and NACOB officials, that may delay the process.”
