Job vacancy Training Consultant - Custom Valuation

Nathan, a Cadmus Company is a leading provider of analytic and economic consultancy services worldwide. In the past decade, we have implemented more than 120 projects in more than 50 countries leveraging our global presence in Washington DC, London, and India. From improved transparency and deeper stakeholder engagement to more effective policies and more resilient businesses, we deliver results that impact economic growth, human development, and poverty reduction. We are passionate about applying our deep analytical expertise and advanced proprietary tools to generate economic solutions tailored to our clients’ unique challenges.  Nathan focuses on a range of economic development subject matter areas including Trade & Logistics; Economic Policy & Governance; Private Sector Development; Women’s Economic Empowerment; and Financial Solutions. 

Background

The Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment (GTI) Activity seeks to improve the enabling environment for Ghana’s economic growth by (1) facilitating trade (2) improving and developing product standards; (3) catalyzing investments in private enterprises related to high-value commercial crops; (4) promoting job creation, particularly among women and youth; (5) promoting economic diversification; and (6) increasing foreign exchange revenues from high-value export crops. GTI will facilitate investing in firms that trade goods across borders, spur innovation, and build the capacity of the entire trade sector.  To support trade facilitation, GTI seeks to identify and tackle time-in-trade costs through robust and integrated risk management systems, streamlined clearance procedures, and improved policy formulation through public-private dialogue.

In 2023, GTI provided technical and financial assistance to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA)-Customs Division to conduct Ghana’s first Time Release Study (TRS), a baseline study to identify bottlenecks that impede efficient clearance and release processes at ports and borders. Specifically, the study sought to (i) measure the average time from arrival to release of goods from selected customs clearance offices (Tema Seaport, Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Aflao Customs Border Post, and Paga Customs Border Post); (ii)  measure the performance of trade facilitation processes of Customs, other government agencies and private sector operators involved in the clearance and release of goods; and (iii) identify areas to improve clearance processes and enhance facilitation to reduce time and cost to trade.

Among the key findings and recommendations from the study are the challenges faced by GRA-Customs to process customs Bill of Entries (BoEs). Currently, the Customs Technical Services Bureau (CTSB) is the unit that is mandated to determine customs classification, valuation and determination of origin of all goods (imports, export and transit goods) to be cleared at all the 16 Custom Stations in Ghana.  The centralization of BoEs within the CTSB is meant to ensure uniformity, fairness and certainty in the assessment of duty, which is consistent with the theory of taxation which seeks to avoid discrimination (conforms to basic tenets of taxation). However, the study identified that the centralization of BOEs processing within CTSB is fraught with delays and recommends, amongst others, the need to decentralize BoE processing. This calls for the need to provide capacity building to selected customs officers from the 13 Customs Stations (outside Tema Port, Kotoka International Airport and the Headquarters) to equip them with both theoretical and practical knowledge and skills for determination of customs classification, valuation and origin of goods required for the processing of BoEs. This is expected to reduce the workload on the CTSB at the GRA-Customs headquarters, facilitate a faster turn-around time in the processing of BOEs and in turn reduce the clearance time for imports, export, and transit goods.

The report also stressed the need for some basic education/awareness creation for the private sector freight forwarders and traders (importers and exporters) on the need to avoid wrong classification and valuation of goods that tend to attract queries which cause delays in customs clearance.

Position Summary:

GTI is seeking a local consultant to work with the GRA-Customs Technical Services Bureau (CTSB) to design and train selected GRA-Customs officers from 13 out-stations in customs valuation to process Bill of Entries (BOEs) at the point of entry. The consultant will collaborate with GRA-Customs, the Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment (GTI) Activity. and with the designated consultant on customs classification to train private sector operators (freight forwarders, importers and exporters) to enable them to comply with the requirement of ensuring the appropriate valuation of goods for customs clearing.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

Key responsibilities and tasks to be performed include but are not limited to the following:

The goal of the training would focus on providing the requisite knowledge, understanding, and skills to build the competencies of customs officers to deal with all aspects of valuation of goods for faster clearance.  Key technical components of the training may cover WTO Agreement on Customs Valuation.

Deliverables

Level of Effort

The expected Level of Effort (LOE) of this assignment is 68 days for all tasks. The activity is proposed to take place between June and October 2024 with the commencement and completion dates to be agreed upon between GTI and the consultant.

Education Required: Master’s Degree