Importers threaten to move to Togo

Local importers have asked Government to make the process of clearing goods at the ports “flexible”, or they will be forced to “relocate” to Togo to clear their goods.

The importers reminded Government that when they are forced to move to Togo it will affect Ghana’s revenue generation efforts -- the very reason the clearing process has been made “cumbersome” and “frustrating”.

In a press release signed by its Chairperson, Paulina Amoah, the Concerned Local Importers group kicked against introduction of Government’s task-force at the ports, saying it has not only made the clearing process cumbersome but also added to “the corruption in the system”.

“Although Government has explained that the rationale of the task-force is to check corruption, our experience shows the contrary,” the group said, calling on President Mahama to “dissolve” the task-force.

A committee, they said, should instead be constituted of all stakeholders to recommend solutions to “the corruption challenges” affecting revenue collection.

A second concern raised by the group is that the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority has been forcing a higher valuation of goods on them in order to meet its revenue target, a situation that puts them out of business as they already struggle to service high interest loans.

“As if the above-listed challenges are not enough, importers and agents have to queue for as long as five days or more to get access to a scanner -- because the scanners often develop faults due to pressure since they scan more than the expected 20 containers daily.”

Other checks by the Preventive Checks Centre, National Security, also take ten days before goods are “completely” cleared, the group said.

The group further alleged that the port authorities give preferential treatment to expatriate importers, by allowing them to establish “large warehouses” from where their goods are scanned so that they do not have to be in the long queues.

“We are pleading with Government to check the harassment we face in clearing our goods at the ports, and possibly give the local importer some privileges over expatriates to support building local capacity.

“It is unfortunate that whereas the expatriates are meant to be stationed in Tema, they have relocated to various parts of the country -- retailing their goods against the law of the sector.”