GRA Defends Publican AI, Says Port Trade Is Moving Faster

The Ghana Revenue Authority has defended the rollout of its Publican AI platform at the ports, arguing that the system is accelerating cargo processing rather than creating fresh delays for traders and clearing agents.

Commissioner-General Anthony Sarpong, speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, April 10, said the technology is already cutting the time required for declaration reviews from hours to minutes. He rejected suggestions that the new platform is obstructing trade flows and said the evidence from operations points in the opposite direction.

His intervention comes amid concern from sections of the trading community over how the system is affecting clearance procedures, valuation disputes and appeals. The GRA says many of those early concerns reflected transition issues that surfaced when the system began identifying longstanding errors in import documentation.

GRA says processing time has dropped sharply

According to Mr Sarpong, one of the clearest gains from the Publican AI system is speed. Under the old manual regime, customs officers could spend about two hours reviewing a declaration before it moved forward. With the new platform assisting with that review, he said the same process can now be completed in roughly five minutes.

"We don’t agree that Publican is slowing trade. We believe Publican is speeding it up," Mr Sarpong said.

The GRA chief argued that this reduction in review time is central to the authority’s broader push to modernise customs administration, improve consistency in decision-making and reduce the room for avoidable errors during clearance.

In practical terms, a faster declaration review process can ease pressure on importers who depend on predictable turnaround times to move goods from the ports into the domestic market. It can also reduce operational strain on customs officers by shifting routine analytical tasks to the system while leaving officers to manage oversight and judgement calls.

Still, Mr Sarpong acknowledged that the initial rollout was not without friction. He said some of the problems that emerged in the early phase were expected in a change of this scale, especially when a digital tool begins testing the quality of data that had previously moved through a more manual workflow.

System exposed major discrepancies in trade declarations

A major issue flagged by the new platform involved discrepancies estimated at about $3 billion. Mr Sarpong said these were linked mainly to errors in classification and valuation, two areas that are critical to customs assessment and revenue collection.

That finding immediately created pressure in the system because importers and agents were initially asked to correct the problematic declarations themselves. The idea was to have traders update their data directly, but the GRA later found that many were struggling with the corrections.

The GRA said discrepancies of about $3 billion were uncovered, largely tied to classification and valuation errors in import declarations.

Mr Sarpong explained that under the previous arrangement, customs officers often stepped in to correct such errors once they spotted them. Removing that support too quickly created a bottleneck during the early days of the Publican rollout.

To address that pressure, the authority adjusted course and directed customs officers to resume their earlier role in correcting faulty entries, after which importers would accept the amendments within the system. He said that intervention resolved the backlog that had built up at the time.

The shift is notable because it shows the GRA was willing to recalibrate implementation rather than insist on a rigid process that users were clearly struggling to navigate. For businesses watching the transition, that responsiveness may matter as much as the technology itself.

Appeals structure remains active, with extra review layer added

Another concern raised by importers was whether the new system had weakened or removed the appeals process. Mr Sarpong said that perception was inaccurate and stressed that the appeals mechanism remains fully active on a 24-hour basis.

He said the GRA already has an appeal team embedded in the platform and available to handle disputes as they arise. Beyond that, the authority has introduced an additional review stage referred to as the "Supreme Court" for matters that remain unresolved after the ordinary appeal process.

"We have what we call an appeal team. That is in the system and fully activated," Mr Sarpong said.

He said the enhanced dispute-resolution structure was part of ongoing engagement with importers aimed at clearing up misunderstandings about how the system works. In his account, some of the tension around the rollout came not from the absence of review mechanisms, but from users not yet understanding that those safeguards were still available.

The GRA also took operational steps to keep the transition under control. Mr Sarpong said meetings were initially held twice each day to clear accumulated cases, but the intensity of that intervention has since been reduced as the platform stabilised and the volume of unresolved matters dropped.

He cited one recent sitting of the higher review body in which fewer than 25 cases were tabled and all were resolved. That, he suggested, is a sign that the system is moving out of its teething phase and into a more normal operating rhythm.

GRA says fairness is improving, not just enforcement

Mr Sarpong said the Publican AI platform is not only identifying inconsistencies by importers and agents, but has also revealed mistakes made internally by customs officers. In at least one case, he said, the GRA accepted that a customs officer had erred and ruled in favour of the importer.

That point is likely to be significant in the public debate around AI-backed enforcement tools. Critics often worry that automated systems may tilt too heavily in favour of revenue authorities or create fresh layers of bureaucracy. The GRA chief, however, argued that the evidence from the initial rollout shows the system can support fairness by exposing mistakes regardless of who made them.

In one disputed case, the GRA said the customs officer was at fault and the appeal was resolved in favour of the importer.

If that approach is sustained, it could strengthen confidence among traders who want assurance that digital enforcement tools will not simply harden decisions against them. A credible appeal and review process becomes especially important when AI is being used to flag risks tied to classification and valuation.

The early performance of the Publican AI system now appears to rest on three pillars the GRA is keen to emphasise:

• faster declaration review times compared with the old manual process
• greater visibility into errors affecting classification and valuation
• an active appeals process with room to correct both importer and customs mistakes

For Ghana’s port sector, the success or failure of the platform will likely be judged less by official assurances alone and more by day-to-day experience. Importers will watch clearance times. Agents will measure how quickly disputes are resolved. Revenue authorities will focus on whether leakages and misclassifications are being reduced without choking legitimate trade.

For now, the GRA is projecting confidence. Mr Sarpong said the authority has dealt with the initial implementation problems and restored normal operations. He maintained that the worst of the early disruption is over and that the same bottlenecks should not return.

That is the test ahead. If the Publican AI system continues to cut processing times while handling disputes transparently and correcting errors on all sides, it could become a significant part of Ghana’s customs modernisation drive. If the transition slips back into confusion, traders will remain sceptical. At this stage, the GRA insists the system is settling in, the backlogs are under control and trade is moving faster, not slower.