The Commissioner of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, Mr. Emmanuel Doku, has mooted the intensification of cooperative efforts between the service and the private sector to maximize trade facilitation. He noted that no meaningful trade facilitation effort could succeed without the active involvement of stakeholders, especially the private sector. Mr. Doku said in a speech read for him by Mr. Henry Acquah, Deputy Commissioner Finance and Corporate Planning of CEPS at the end of a three-day capacity building seminar for the senior management of CEPS in Accra. The Seminar was organized by the US Customs Border Protection Agency (USCBPA) for the CEPS as part of the US government’s commitment to build the Service’s capacity in tune with the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Framework of Standards to make it a world class service provider. This is the sixth in a series that the USCBPA had held for CEPS over the past three years. The seminar, aimed at building the foundation for deepening and consolidating the relationship between CEPS and industry in order to actualize the WCO’s Framework of Standards. Mr Doku said as major partner of business, the service needed to maintain a cooperative relationship with industry at all times in order to achieve its security enhancement initiatives. He stressed the need for CEPS to re-align its operations to respond to the demands of the changing business environment, saying, “As a result, CEPS will continue to deepen its consultative processes with industry on all major policy and operation changes taking place within the Service”. “Such a cooperative relationship will help build trust and promote industrial efficiency”, he said. The Commissioner conceded that the priorities of industry would continue to change in response to changes in the global environment, stressing the need for the Service to develop the flexibility and capability to cope with the changes. He said management on its part would intensify efforts at establishing lasting partnership with the private sector. Mr. Doku entreated the participants to impart the knowledge acquired at the training to their colleagues to improve their understanding of the kind of relationship the Service wanted to build with the private sector. He expressed appreciation to the USCBPA for the consistent support, adding that Ghana would fully utilize opportunities offered by the UG government to improve capacity. Source: GNA