The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana is calling for a minimum of a 14-day deferment of the implementation of the reversal of the reduction in benchmark values policy, by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
According to the GRA, implementation of the revised policy will now start on Thursday, the 6th of January, 2022, to allow importers who got their duty bills before the initial implementation date to pay and clear their goods.
The deferment of the implementation of the reversal of the reduction in benchmark values policy comes after some freight forwarders encountered challenges paying duties to facilitate the clearing of their goods at the port on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
According to a message to freight forwarders cited by Citi Business News, among other things, effective Thursday, 6th January 2022 any declaration not yet entered, that is where duty and taxes have not yet been paid, will be affected by the revised policy. It added that a post entry will be required to enable recalculation of the taxes based on the policy.
In an interview with Citi Business News, about the deferment, the Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Samson Asaki Awingobit said importers needed more time.
“I strongly believe that the 2-day deferment was woefully inadequate. Even though we are still kicking against the totality of the revised policy, we are also standing by our demands as stated in our press release which states that we need at least 2 weeks to process imports for which we already have duty bills.”
Mr. Awingobit also added that they are prepared to engage the government to agree on a clear way forward.
“Basically we are calling for the reversal to be put on hold. Let all come together around the table and deliberate further. Maybe we can agree on something that will be good for all stakeholders.”
