Exporters should now be able to obtain their certificates of origin within 24 hours. It follows the automation of the issuance of the certificates, a key document in international trade to cover exports from Ghana. Seth Adjei Baah, the President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the automation of the process of getting certificates was necessitated by problems encountered by exporters. He explained the certificates are very important for exporters seeking a waiver of some duties and taxes. He said some Ghanaian exporters had been forced to pay tariffs on their exports to the United States despite the exemption they enjoyed under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). That, he said was because they were not able to produce certificates of origin to show that the goods are actually from Ghana. Mr. Adjei Baah told Joy Business the automation process will also help reduce fraud. “Previously, because the [system was] manual, a lot of people were issuing fake [certificates] hear and there and it was difficult to monitor and when exporters get out there they have challenges…and we want to eliminate that as well,” he stated. Source: Joy Business/Ghana