Bureau Veritas Inspection Valuation Assessment and Control-BIVAC International, a French Destination Inspection Company (DIC,) engaged to undertake destination inspection in the country, Ghana, is rocked with some underhand dealings which have the potential of destroying the very core mandate for which it has been engaged.
Their operations have become an avenue of corruption for many of its staff who sees nothing wrong with charging illegal fees on goods they have evaluated.
Interesting revelations emerging from the Akanu-Aflao BIVAC office speak of how some staff of the company, who have developed the habits of making quick money irrespective of how they made it, are overburdening businessmen and women who have to go through them before getting their goods cleared or released.
Investigations conducted into these issues have led to the fact that a staff of BIVAC, Aflao-Akanu, one Belinda Kpekpena, who is in charge of typing documents for various transactions has created a ?mini-office? within the BIVAC establishment whereby she charges exorbitant fees on documents she type for these businessmen and women, before releasing their documents to them.
The sad part of it is that, those who cannot afford the fees she charges have their documents impounded by her till the monies are paid.
It has been gathered also that, all these payments Belinda Kpekpena made businessmen and women to pay as fees for their documents are not receipted.
?When you demand for receipt she will either tell you to leave if you are not interested in your goods or ask you to go and report her,? an aggrieved business man said.
According to the aggrieved businessmen and women who said they could not take it anymore, they have endured the situation for too long and believing that the lady, Belinda Kpekpena is extorting monies from them unlawfully.
According to them they are aware of the fact that no fees must be charged since government of Ghana pay for all services BIVAC offer at the border.
They believe, Belinda Kpekpena veering from the laid down rules as she also refuses to give receipts on any money she collect.
It is a fact that one of the core functions of Customs world-wide is the classification of goods as they are imported from abroad into a particular country, Ghana not an exception.
Indeed, proper classification of imported goods is one of the most assured sources of revenue generation for governments but the development at the Aflao-Akanu BIVAC office needs much to be desired since little fees that are supposed to be channeled to government coffers are being diverted into individual pockets.
Proper Classification of goods imported into a country and the correct management of fees and accounts means that the correct amounts of duties and levies would be collected to aid national development.
However, inspection of goods used to be the exclusive preserve and responsibility of the Customs Excise and Preventive Services until events of modern bulk packaging and transportation – containerization by which large quantities of goods are packed into huge containers became the order of the day, and the CEPS lacked the proper means by way of equipment for identifying and classifying goods packed and delivered in large containers into our ports, hence the introduction of the DICs.
So for properly equipped companies with specialized equipment and know-how to efficiently do the work therefore arose, government of Ghana since the year 2000 has engaged the services of destination inspection companies to assist with the classification of goods imported into the country for proper assessment for revenue purposes.
Gateway Services Limited was the very first company that was engaged to undertake destination inspection in the country. By 2003, other companies such as BIVAC, Ghana Link and ICS had all been licensed to participate in the destination inspection business in Ghana.
However, calls are being placed at the doorsteps of BIVAC International management and government to carry out investigations into the matter and find solutions as they (businessmen and women) are being overburden with unnecessary and illegal payments.
However, when BIVAC was contacted they indicated their readiness to address any issues that will tend to tarnish the image of the company.
They indicated that BIVAC operates with a high level of ethics and professionalism, and expressed readiness to apply their code of conduct on disciplinary matters to deal with individuals involved in such unacceptable activities.
According to a response from BIVAC the alleged offender, Belinda Kpekpena will be suspended pending investigations.
Below are some of the some response from BIVAC:
1. There are no statutory fees to be paid for the services we provide to any importer. Any demands made such as those mentioned in your e-mail, are unofficial, and do not constitute any revenues to the Company.
2. There are no payments made in our offices for the service we provide. We are directly paid by the Government of Ghana for our services.
3. It cannot be a policy of our company to withhold documents of anyone for the reason of imposing payments on the importers for typing or any other reason. Any payments made as a result of demands from members of our staff is unofficial and tantamount so to investigation and disciplinary action. It is duty bound of the staff involved to type documents for importers as part of her duty, and without any obligations or demands made from the importers.
4. Certainly not. Typists are not allowed to collect fees on transactions no matter what their status is. Any typist or employee of the company who attempts to collect fees from importers, are deemed to breaking the code of conduct and ethics they signed and subscribed to with the Company, and could be subjected to summary dismissal.
5. To clear the goods, our part is to provide an FCVR (Final Classification and Valuation Report) which is an approved value to the goods subject to clearance. Once that document is provided, they can clear their goods as far as we are concerned, but still subject to CEPS approval.
6. As indicated above, at no stage should an importer make any payment to us it is our duty to provide the documents as part of our duties and with no payment demanded from the importers.
