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President John Dramani Mahama has described as illegal any levy being charged at Ghana’s ports not backed by law, directing that all fees and charges imposed by shipping lines ‘unlawfully’ be presented to Parliament for approval.
Mr Mahama said the legislative action would eliminate the unapproved administrative charges and promote transparency in the freight industry.
In a meeting with the leadership of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) at the Presidency in Accra on Friday, President Mahama revealed that he has directed the ministers of Transport and Justice to take action on the subject matter.
“We consulted the Attorney-General and you cannot charge any fee or levy within the territories of Ghana without parliamentary approval and so that must be rectified as soon as possible.
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“The law says that fees and levies shall be ratified by Parliament. Nobody can charge any fee or levy within the jurisdiction of Ghana without parliamentary approval.
“So we have charged the Minister of Transport and the Attorney-General to ensure that those fees are brought to Parliament,” President Mahama stated.
The President made this known when responding to complaints by the freight forwarders of excessive and arbitrary charges by shipping lines.
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President of GIFF, Stephen Adjokatcher, had told the President moments earlier that some shipping lines demand administrative fees in US dollars per container, despite multiple containers being covered by a single bill of lading.
“If you have 20 containers on one bill of lading, you are charged 20 separate administrative fees. But in China, you are charged only once per bill of lading,” Mr Adjokatcher had said.
He wondered why shipping lines continue to charge extra fees when the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) already handles the port processing.
The Institute, Mr Adjokatcher said had previously appealed to the Ghana Shippers Authority but to no avail.
“We’ve knocked at the door of the Ghana Shippers Authority several times; nothing is going on. These fees are not only unregulated but unjustified,” he stressed.
The President said government was on the same wavelength with the freight forwarders on the unapproved charges and would work to have them addressed to make Ghana’s ports more competitive.
“We think we should make our ports the desired destination for people to bring their goods through, because it is some of these bottlenecks that are making our importers bring imports through Lome because they pay less fees,” President Mahama noted.
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