The Vice President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFA), Nana Asiamah Preprah I, has raised concerns over inconsistencies in the implementation of the Customs Publican AI system at the ports.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, he cited what he described as glaring errors in duty assessments generated by the system.
According to him, a 1.5-horsepower air conditioner was assigned a duty of 194, while a 2.0-horsepower unit attracted a lower duty of 98, questioning the accuracy of the system.
He noted that while freight forwarders are not opposed to the use of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency, the current system appears to be producing more errors than expected.
“Today, it was reported that an air conditioner with a capacity of 1.5 hp was assigned a duty charge of 194, while a 2.0 hp unit received a duty charge of 98. If there are claims of human errors, I wonder what kind of individual would make such a mistake. We are not opposed to the improvements in the industry; if these changes can expedite the release of items, that would be beneficial. However, we are not currently seeing that efficiency,” he said.
Mr Preprah emphasised the need to customise the system to suit local conditions, adding that it has yet to significantly improve clearance times at the ports.
He therefore called for broader stakeholder engagement and urged authorities to review or temporarily suspend the system to address identified challenges.
“While AI assists us in many aspects, we need to customise it to better fit our needs. It has not resolved the issue of errors. There should be comprehensive stakeholder engagement and consultation to address the existing loopholes. We recommend suspending the current process until these issues are resolved,” he added.
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