Alert CEPS on suspicious shipments - Commissioner

THE Commissioner of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Mr E.N. Doku, has called on shippers and custom house agents to alert customs authorities to any suspicious shipments to ensure timely interventions.
He also called for regular updates on products perceived to pose threats to the environment, such as discarded computers and computer parts, used outer covers and refrigerators, for immediate attention.
Mr Doku made the call in Accra yesterday during the celebration of this year’s International Customs Day on the theme, “Customs and the environment: Protecting our natural heritage”.
He called for pragmatic ways of ensuring that various multilateral protocols, recommendations and national laws which sought to protect the environment were effectively implemented by all countries, adding that "relevant agencies should embark on initiatives that will ensure the promulgation of workable laws to deal with the canker".
He applauded the theme for this year's celebration, saying it would help develop a vibrant and sophisticated agenda to save the environment from degradation and also serve as an opportunity for customs administrations to focus on the looming environmental crisis.
The commissioner noted that the need to fight environmental degradation and illegal trade in toxic substances was a core function of CEPS and urged CEPS officers to “work together to protect the integrity of our environment and lift our image through improved service delivery”.
He noted that CEPS expected a stronger partnership with stockholder institutions in discharging its duties and responsibilities to protect the environment.
The Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Jonathan Allottey, said illegal international trade in environmentally sensitive commodities, such as ozone depleting substances (ODS), toxic chemicals and hazardous waste, threatened human health and the environment and also contributed to revenue loss by the government.
He stated that the EPA, in collaboration with CEPS, had put in place measures to control the importation of electrical and electronic waste.
The Director of the Radiation Protection Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Professor Geoffrey Emi-Reynold, advised Ghanaians against the effects of artificial radiation emitted through medical applications used for diagnostics.