Members of the Ashanti regional branch of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) have accused the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) of subjecting them to rigorous checks and making them pay exorbitant duties on imported goods.
They described such checks as deliberate targeting which they say is hampering their businesses.
Speaking at an event organized by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority on enlightening shippers on “addressing post-clearance audit challenges,” Anthony Oppong who is the Ashanti Regional Chairman of GUTA called on Customs to do the right checks at the ports to reduce the stress they go through each time they are transporting their goods to the Ashanti Region.
“Officials of customs have done this work for a long time, and I am expecting that they should know the average cost of a 40-footer spare parts container and so if an agent is manipulating the situation and paying lesser duties, they should know and let the agents do the right thing so that we are not subjected to the many checks we go through in transporting the goods to Kumasi.”
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Benonita Bismarck also called on shippers to be well-informed about the process of clearing goods at the ports to avoid the many audit challenges they face.
“We want our shippers to have a seamless flow of business and trade facilitation and paying taxes should not be an impediment but if we don’t pay our taxes, the government is not able to generate the needed revenue to build our roads and other projects and so if you are well-informed about this, you don’t wait for Customs to come and knock on your doors.”
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