The Office of the President is coordinating the implementation of the National Single Window Scheme at the country’s ports and borders. That’s according to the Trade and Industry Minister, Dr Ekow Spio Garbrah despite suggestions that all such trade-related initiatives are spearheaded by the Trade Ministry per international best practice.

The Single Window Scheme would ensure all players in the export and import business lodge their documentation and access other relevant data on a common platform.

West Blue Consulting has been selected to operate this from 1st September 2015. But the Minister exclusively revealed to Joy Business Editor, Emmanuel Agyei, his outfit doesn’t have much to do with this contract though it is centrally involved in the implementation of the scheme.                                                                                                                                

“I’ve not seen the contract of the West Blue. I don’t know whether a contract has been signed with them. That again is a function of the Ministry of Finance because West Blue is supposed to assist the Ghana Revenue Authority which reports to the Ministry of Finance. Of course we at the Trade Ministry are very much of course concern with how things would evolve but again it is a Ministry of Finance responsible at this point.

"The President’s directive is for the Chief of Staff to actually, because he is more or less a coordinating body above ministries, to be the focus for the coordinated work because there are many agencies that have to work together and if you give it to one ministry it might be difficult to get the kind of coordination that you need” he said.

He explained why the Office of the President rather than his unit or any other Ministry is coordinating implementation of the scheme.                                                   

“Import and export trades as you can imagine, involve a number of dimensions for example it involves harbours. Harbours are not normally managed by a trade industries and ministries. In case of Ghana our harbours are managed by the ministry of transport and so the Ghana Ports of Harbour Authority for example, and the Ghana Shippers Council and almost all the shipping companies that come and go in Ghana, work through the Ministry of Transport and not Ministry of Trade and so it is important to understand the inter-ministerial and the inter- agency nature of the import and export trade of which there are many dimensions.

"There are banks and financial institutions which get involve in import and export by financing the import and export. There are insurance companies; there are clearing and forwarding agents, there are over twenty-five different stakeholder groups.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry can help in the coordination of some of the work of these bodies but they don’t know or report to the ministry of trade and industry, as in we don’t control them. Many of them are private institutions and even those which are public may reside in different ministry” he concluded.