The operations of importers and freight forwarders in the country are being severely hampered by the hefty import tariffs at the ports.
The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders said the situation is disincentivizing importers.
Traffic inflows at the ports have recently decreased, owing primarily to low importation.
The high import charges that must be paid before goods are cleared, according to players in the business, are partially to blame for the trend.
Speaking on the matter, the chairman of the Tema District of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Johnny Mantey said, both importers and freight forwarders are no longer able to cope with the situation.
All the regulators are at the port and all they do is increase the tariffs without doing any work. The charges are becoming burdensome. Benchmark values have to go, Customs, GRA and other bodies must sit down and find better solutions to determining the duties that are payable,” he said on the Point of View on Citi TV.
The GPHA held an emergency stakeholder meeting to ascertain the factors behind the significant dip in importation.
The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana has blamed the low volumes of imports into the country on fiscal policies implemented by the government.
Executive Secretary of the group Sampson Asaki Awingobi says the government’s retrogressive fiscal and unfriendly port policies are concerning.