The move he said is to protest the yet-to-be introduced levy which they believe is a bad policy to be implemented by the Ghana Health Service.

According to Mr. Mantey, several letters to the Ghana Health Service and relevant stakeholders for some explanation on the yet-to-be implemented policy, have all proved futile hence their action.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9v4BdgRTZwmlgHLd0JvACtecj2DnSesz”]He said GIFF will on Tuesday hold a crucial press conference on the matter where it would state its official position and outline plans to register its protest on the levy.

He noted that, the levy is a bad one which when implemented would only add up to unnecessarily burden the ordinary tax payer, thereby increasing the cost of doing business at the Tema Port.

“Why must the importer be made to pay for a service on a container that does not belong to him or her? We don’t get this. Several letters to the relevant stakeholders are all not yielding any result as they are all tight lipped on the subject matter.”

He continued that “we shall ensure this new yet-to-be introduced levy does not see the light of day because it is not the importer who is supposed to bare the cost of a service on a container that is not his or hers. We are not against the service but we are against the wrong person being asked to pay.”

The acting Chairman of the Concerned Freight Forwarders and Traders Association, COFT, Kwasi Afrawua, also said the they are firmly behind GIFF in opposing the payment of the fumigation levy.

According to him “although inflation is down, cost of products on the market are high and this is partly due to some of these things where the ordinary importer is unnecessarily overburdened with duties which are later passed on to the ordinary end user.”

“We will not allow this fumigation levy to be collected because it is bogus and needless and it is just another well thought out means to extort money from the ordinary importer.”

When Citi News visited the Tema Port, the machines to be used for the fumigation of containers were about 90 percent complete.

All entry and exit points at the Port have been affixed with the machines to fumigate incoming and outgoing containers.

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By: Elvis Washinton/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Freight Forwarders to fly red flags to protest fumigation levy appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They argue that the inability to implement existing laws have partly accounted for the losses hence must be checked.

The comment comes after the suspension of the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) last Friday, February 16, 2018.

Obviously pleased with the decision by the Office of the Vice President to suspend the implementation of the CTN, the businesses maintain that the losses have largely been due to a lax monitoring system at the ports.

Vice President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Humphrey Ayim-Darkeh tells Citi Business News reviewing the customs documentation process to allow cross-checking of information on imports, should correct potential malpractices.

“For instance, if I import a particular consignment of goods and the forwarding agent passes the entry and the description is done by a customs and there is an element of under declaration, we will see it in the portal,” he explained.

Freight Forwarders equally maintain that compelling shippers to comply with standardized format for presenting manifests which describes the weight, volume as well as the stowage plan for a consignment of goods, should reduce under declaration.

The President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Kwabena Ofosu Appiah stated as,

“The shippers provide the manifest but the timing and the format that it takes; it is very crucial because if the consignment gets to the destination before manifest is provided, that could lend itself to a whole lot of discrepancies. But if it is provided from source, then everyone gets to be comfortable with the process.”

It is unclear whether the government bears any judgement debt with the latest development as managers of the platform are yet to comment on the matter.

But Citi Business News understands that there is a crunch meeting on the issue later this week to decide the next action.

For the AGI and the freight forwarders, enforcing international best practices could also improve revenue mobilization going forward.

“Guarding under-invoicing, mis-description of products, dumping and other related issues, we think the Ghana International Trade Commission ought to be inaugurated as that would be one of the institutions to complement the efforts of the AGI in meeting its goal,” Mr. Ayim-Darkeh added.

His counterpart, Kwabena Ofosu Appiah stressed, “I would want to urge the GRA on to tool its staff and make them understand the changing phase in international trade business such as Trade facilitation and its impact.”

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinesnews.com/Ghana

The post Opponents of CTN demand strict monitoring at ports appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The CTN is expected to track all imports to Ghana to reduce revenue losses with under declaration.

Even before its implementation in March 2018, the businesses say they will be disadvantaged.

The freight forwarders argue that the Cargo Tracking Notes (CTN) is a duplication of efforts to slow down their activities.

They explain that the customs already has access to shipment information hence no need for any new documentation.

The President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Kwabena Ofosu Appiah explained the group’s position as;

“We believe this is just allowing someone to set up just a system to provide information on imports such as vehicles and make up to about 100 dollars on every bill of laden,” he stated.

The CTN primarily allows freight forwarders from the country of origin to upload information on a particular consignment unto the platform.

This is subsequently relayed unto the Ghana customs platform in real time.

The charges range between 100 and 200 dollars per consignment of goods.

This is however dependent on the number of consignments.

The CEO of CTN Ghana, Geoffrey Cole disputes the arguments of the freight forwarders of additional costs.

“We are dealing with the freight forwarder at the port of origin who is engaged by the shipper or supplier or manufacturer to process documents out of that country to Ghana. So we have no business with the freight forwarder whose mandate resides in Ghana,” he explained.

Due to the timely provision of information, any consignment which is suspected of under declaration or under valuation, could be surcharged to avert any possible revenue loss due to tax evasion.

Geoffrey Cole tells Citi Business News the program should also protect the economy from dumping of unapproved goods.

“The benefits do not only accrue to customs but also to the Ministry of Health as it can use the CTN to control the importation of some prohibited pharmaceutical products. Likewise the Ministry of Interior could use the CTN to determine any threat of importation of unwanted weapons, etc. Also, the Ministry of Trade in making economic decisions for Ghana could also use the CTN to track imports,” he added.

A Tax advisor at the Commissioner of Customs, Christian Sottie admits to the outstanding issues raised by the businesses.

He however explains that all such issues should be resolved for the roll out in March.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Importers resist Customs’ Cargo Tracking Notes policy appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They maintain that such allegations could not be possible as they go through strict scrutiny in the clearing process.

The comments come on the back of concerns raised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) over the collapse of major policies should the malpractices at the ports go unresolved.

One key program that the AGI believes the illegality threatens is the one district, one factory.

The President of the AGI, Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi announced the plight of the local manufacturers at a media briefing last Thursday, February 1, 2018.

According to him, the issues of under invoicing, under declaration and mis-description have become complex due to reports of custom officials conniving with the perpetrators.

“Paying taxes in Ghana is mandatory yet some criminal minded importers have found cunning ways to evade tax/duties through the connivance with some revenue officials at the ports,” he stated.

Manufacturers lament unfair competition

Commenting on the issue, the CEO of cosmetic firm, FC Group of Companies, Grace Amey Obeng also lamented the unfair pricing compared with imported products.

“Creams that would cost you about 1 cedis to produce in Ghana is being sold out on the market for 1 cedis 50 pesewas and that is impossible considering the cost of production such as packaging, water and electricity…We cannot scale up and compete with the imported products,” she stated.

Another member of the AGI, who is a manufacturer of fruit juice, narrated his story on the impact of the malpractices.

“Almost every supermarket in Ghana has stocked other brands of fruit juices imported into the country which also contain the food concentrates that we have similar ones produced in Ghana. Why then do we not use those that are produced in the country? We are only happy to create jobs for other countries.”

Freight forwarders respond

But reacting to these concerns, the President of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Kwabena Ofosu Appiah explained that the strict clearing process couldn’t allow such illegalities.

“The Technical Services Bureau does not take the documents that we present hook, line and sinker; this includes the declared intention before it is allowed into the system. We have another crack team of customs officers at the compliance level who have records that have piled up as a result of transactions that have passed through the system.  After all of these you go unto the field and meet another set of customs that is if you are channeled to go through examination,” he told Citi Business News in an interview.

On the specific concern of systems breakdown of the scanner, Mr. Appiah explained as;

“The system that we have on the ground is making it such that goods that are even channeled to the scanner are even reducing; over 76 percent of our operations at the ports is going through the red channel which is physical examination…This goes beyond finding comfort in blaming someone for the challenges at the ports.”

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Importers reject tax evasion claims by AGI appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.