The World Customs Organization (WCO) held a National Workshop on the Time Release Study (TRS) in Accra, Ghana, from 5 to 10 September 2022, following a request by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). The Workshop was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The GRA adopted a five-year National Trade Facilitation Roadmap (NTFR) for the period 2018-2022, with the goal of reducing trade costs and delays by 40% by 2022. In accordance with the NTFR, new automated Customs management systems were implemented in 2020, and the GRA is committed to executing its transformation and modernization programme in accordance with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention, in order to improve automation, simplify procedures and facilitate trade.

The purpose of the National TRS Sensitization Workshop was to provide capacity building and technical assistance to the GRA, as well as to convey information about the TRS process and methodologies. During the Workshop, GRA Customs officials presented their TRS action plan; the WCO’s TRS-accredited experts and other stakeholders then provided input aimed at ensuring that all the actions envisaged are well considered.

In order to help the Workshop participants map the processes and identify all the associated activities, field trips were also organized to Terminal One and Meridian Port Services at Tema Seaport, as well as to Aviance, Swissport and DHL at Kotoka International Airport. Furthermore, by leveraging the WCO’s TRS Software the participating Customs officials were able to design questionnaires and successfully extract a set of sample questionnaires for practical exercises on data harmonization and data analysis.

Throughout the Workshop, participants engaged in lively discussions and hands-on exercises, defining the concrete measures to be taken to ensure the successful completion of TRS implementation. Overall, the participants demonstrated an exceptional understanding of TRS procedures.

The Workshop was presided over by the Customs Commissioner, and the participants were mainly mid- and senior-level GRA officials, and representatives of other government agencies.

For more information about TRS, please contact the WCO Secretariat at TRS@wcoomd.org.