GIFF petitions Parliament Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism on import restriction

The leadership of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) on Wednesday, November 28, 2023, met the leadership of Parliament’s Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism to deliver a petition on the draft Export and Import (Restrictions on Importation of Selected Strategic Products) Regulations, 2023.

Receiving the petition, Chairperson of the Select Committee, Carlos Ahenkorah, expressed that members of the committee held similar concerns to those expressed by the trading community and will be making urgent representations to the Minister responsible for Trade and Industry to make the necessary adjustments to the proposed regulation.

Presenting the petition, Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders – Tema, Forwarder Johnny Mantey, expressed that while the intent backing the bill – to make imports more efficient, improve the country's balance of payments position, safeguard critical imports, and promote sustainable spending to preserve foreign currency – the construction of the proposed legislative instrument is likely to exacerbate food and general inflation, affect demand and supply for affected products, cripple businesses, and become an avenue for political corruption and the creation of monopolies for the supply of these commodities.

He also noted the lack of consultation on the proposed regulation, and bemoaned that this approach to policy formulation is concerning because without the input of stakeholders, the resultant policies may lack nuance, struggle to meet their objectives, and potentially generate negative externalities; and that if the trading community had been consulted the proposed legislation would have been crafted better.

The Institute stressed that the country's economic difficulties are not solely due to importation but are also rooted in inefficiencies within domestic productive sectors and insufficient government measures; and that without any strong measures to boost local industry, restricting imports could exacerbate inflation, disrupt demand and supply, and create the conditions that favour the development of black markets appealing.

The Institute further noted that to improve Ghana’s foreign exchange position, the government, among other things, must apply stringent measures to regulate the repatriation of foreign exchange by multinational corporations and controlling forex extracted by shipping lines from illegitimate fees that burden traders and affect the country's forex reserves.

GIFF expressed the hope that the committee will work with the rest of the trading community to fashion a policy that better accounts for conditions in the industry and establish regulations that move the economy forward.

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