The Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union of Ghana says about 7,000 of its members will be adversely affected by the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020, Act 1014.
The law which has been passed by Parliament bans the importation of used vehicles older than 10 years as well as salvaged cars, also known as ‘accident cars’.
But, the Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union have kicked against the Act, warning that certain aspects of the Act that bans the imports of vehicles and spare parts may result in some of its members losing their jobs.
General Secretary of the Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union of Ghana, Opoku Agyemang Joshua said government must take a look at the Act.
“As a matter of fact, we are talking about 7,700 membership across the country, not including the sales agents that we deal with not forgetting the value chain; the sprayers, straighteners, and the mechanics who rely solely on some of these things. Because mind you, though their garages are there and should we bring in these cars or not, there will be an amount of work that will be done. However, they solely depend on us for survival. Because an importer can bring 40 cars at a time, you can compare that to a day to day drive in for repair works.”, he emphasized.
Meanwhile, the Car Rental Association of Ghana believes the Act would help improve the quality of cars on the road thereby reducing accidents.
Seth Yeboah Ocran, the Chairman of the Car Rental Association of Ghana told Citi Business News that “I think 10 years and above is a good initiative which will reduce road accidents. It’s not every member that can buy brand new cars. So I think that we should go gradually and give ourselves say, 5 years or whatever years to totally ban them”, he added.
Background
The Customs Amendment Act is scheduled to come into force in October 2020.
Apart from banning vehicles older than 10 years and accident cars, the law seeks to create a conducive environment for the manufacturing and assembling of cars in Ghana.