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NCA Organises Workshop on Inspection Criteria for Customs Division of GRA, GSA and National Security

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NCA Organises Workshop on Inspection Criteria for Customs Division of GRA, GSA and National Security

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has organised a workshop on the inspection criteria and modalities for Equipment Communications Equipment (ECE) with some staff of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the National Security in Aflao, Tema and Accra. The NCA is mandated under sections 66 and 67 of the Electronic Communications (EC) Act of 2008, Act 775 and Regulations 78 and 79 of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011 L.I. 1991 to ensure that all ECEs manufactured or imported into Ghana for sale or use are in compliance with minimum Health and Safety, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Radio Frequency requirements.

Organised to apprise the officers who work at the country’s points of entry on the inspection procedures the NCA uses, the workshop also highlighted some of the illegal equipment used for SIM Boxing. The team from the NCA which met with officials of Customs, GSA and National Security was led by Deputy Director of the Regulatory Administration Division, Isaac Boateng, with support from Roland Kudozia, Romeo Toffik Rockson and Peter Onyekwere.

Among others, the participants were taken through the mandate of the NCA regarding importation of ECEs and the need for NCA officials to ascertain the veracity of claims by importers before goods are cleared from Ghana’s points of entry. Ghana’s existing Type Approval regime was also discussed at the workshops.

NCA Officials showing samples of SIM Boxes to some participants at one of the workshops 
Roland Kudozia explaining a point to the participants

Speaking at the workshops on behalf of Mr. Joe Anokye, Director General of the NCA, Mr. Boateng emphasised that “a regulatory regime has been developed to facilitate easy entry of Electronic Communication Equipment onto the market, introduce a variety of equipment choice for the consumer, and most importantly to maintain quality and safety of the equipment; in line with the new regulatory regime.

The NCA has established state of the art laboratories for testing electronic communication equipment aimed at improving the ICT standardisation space, particularly for conformance and market surveillance activities in Ghana, the West African sub-region and Africa at large; we find the role of Customs, National Security and indeed the Ghana Standards Authority as a very important one and they all have a big role to play to ensure that we the NCA execute our mandate as effectively as the framers of our laws expect”, he said.

Mr. Isaac Boateng, addressing the participants in Aflao

Currently, the Authority inspects ECEs at the Tema Harbour and at the Aviance Village at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra. “What we want to do is to augment these regulatory regimes, with a concerted effort from all angles, and one of our most important links in the value chain are the ports and this is why we believe we must strengthen our respective relations and to collaborate more for the benefit of the country”, Mr. Boateng said