The Ghana Revenue Authority’s Customs division has refuted rumors alleging that Ghana is losing transit cargos to neighboring countries like Togo and Ivory Coast.
During an episode of the “Eye on Port” show on Metropolitan Television in Accra, Gerald Agbettor, Chief Revenue Officer and Officer in Charge of Transit at the Customs division of GRA, affirmed that Ghana is not experiencing losses in transit cargoes. He emphasized that customs declaration data indicates growth in the volume of transit trade in the country.
Agbettor reported that the transit trade volume for January to March 2024 increased by 136,000 metric tons compared to the same period in 2023, rising from 308,000,000 metric tons to 444,000,000 metric tons in 2024.
“Some time ago, I joined the chorus, especially transit business from the ports to the hinterlands, they say that Ghana is losing the transit trade to other places. By my background, I was able to have access to the data manifest and when I went through it, I saw transhipment to Benin, transhipment to Togo, and it became alarming. But the fact that it is transhipment on the manifest to Togo and Benin does not mean we are losing transit trade to them,” he explained.
The Officer in charge of Transit also disclosed that the rate of diversion in Ghana is low. However, he urged that security be tightened at the various ports and transit terminals in order to facilitate fair trade.
Additionally, the Chief Revenue Officer praised the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority for saving the Customs division of GRA GH¢90 million in their efforts to reduce diversion rates at the port.
He further acknowledged Ghana Link’s significant contribution, as they provided dedicated monitoring devices for house-to-house containers moving from transit terminals to transit parks.
“It is not really rampant, but it does not mean security should be relaxed, it should rather be tightened. A meeting was recently held with stakeholders to gather data from them so it can be used to best serve customers,” he said.
Eric Adiamah, a Council member of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders and a panelist on the show, concurred with the Chief Revenue Officer that transit operations in Ghana were flourishing. He asserted that the Port of Tema is the top choice among landlocked countries along the West African coast.
However, he disclosed that Ghana was experiencing some loss of transit volume to neighboring countries due to regulations and the high cost associated with transit operations, despite the Port of Tema offering quality services in terms of safety and security.
“Transit business is thriving well. Only problem we see as operators of transit business is the cost of doing the business. The volumes as my brother has said are from data I have no access to, but on the ground what we know is that we are losing some volumes to neighbouring countries like Lomé. Meanwhile, between Togo port and Tema Port, when it comes to security and quality of service, the Port of Tema is way ahead, he said.
Mr. Adiamah expressed that the regulations overseeing transit trade are adequate to manage the diversion of transit cargo at the ports.
He encouraged the GRA Customs division to strengthen its operational partnerships with freight forwarders to dissuade them from engaging in transit diversion.
To deter others, he recommended that individuals caught for transit diversion offenses should face the full consequences of the law.
“If the rules provided by the books are followed to the latter, monitored by customs and all the authorities, the rules as they stand now are enough to do the business. The new things they are bringing up, will not improve anything, they will not stop diversion, it will only worry people who do legitimate business,” he averred.
The Officer in charge of transit explained that section 95, ACT 891, 2015, (6) of the Customs Act allowed for escorts for high risked goods under transit when the Commissioner deems it so.
“There were suspicions that some high risk goods were likely to be diverted and because of that, we have to place escorts on them. So, it is not the entirety of the whole transit trade. High risk goods like rice, tomato paste, cooking oil, vegetable oil, ethanol, alcohol, diapers are being brought in more, hence, the directives from the Commissioner and Commissioner General that we should ensure that we put escort on them,” he explained.