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The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has agreed to maintain its old importers registration fees.
This agreement was concluded at the end of a consultation meeting organized jointly by the National Standards Body and the Ghana Shippers’ Authority on Thursday January 14, 2012, for industry players such as importers and exporters, traders and other members of the business community.
The meeting was organized to ensure that the shipping and trading communities were fully informed and educated on the implications of the new rights and also to discuss other issues relating to operations in ports, including ways to facilitate trade and avoid delays.
“The GSA, by maintaining the old fees, has promised to inform the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce of the practical challenges of implementing the currently approved fees and to seek advice for a revised schedule. implementation. “
The Parliament of Ghana in August 2019 approved the new fees and charges for GSA which were to come into effect on January 1, 2020.
However, the Ghana Standards Authority has postponed the implementation of the revised fees and charges for a year for several reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure that the general public, as well as importers , are integrated.
The GSA believes the new charges take effect immediately, as requested by Parliament.
But stakeholders, during the meeting, citing the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses and the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), called on the GSA to halt the implementation of the new fees until, at least, the first quarter of the year to allow industry players to recover from the losses suffered as a result of last year’s pandemic.
GSA Director General Professor Alex Dodoo at the end of the deliberation heeded the demand from industry players and announced that the Authority would maintain the current fees and charges until the appropriate time.
“So basically nothing has changed with regards to the GSA fees at the port,” he said, much to the delight and applause of the rally. “So the only communication is that the situation is as it is. The status quo remains. I hope that makes it very clear and very simple. It’s not like we’ve increased and reduced; we didn’t do it, ”he noted.
He reiterated his structure’s determination to support the government in improving the ease of doing business in Ghana and called on all stakeholders to support the “ year of implementation ” campaign. Authority for the purpose of ensuring consumer protection and trade promotion at the same time.
Professor Dodoo revealed that the GSA is planning to introduce import certification for certain categories of products such as lubricants and gas cylinders as well as online payment.
Shippers Authority CEO Benonita Bismarck thanked Professor Dodoo and his team for reaching out to the Shippers Authority and all stakeholders to discuss the issues.
“I’m glad we were able to speak in such a way that the status quo remained,” she said, thanking GSA and its GM for understanding the plight of the maritime public.
Following the meeting, stakeholders agreed to re-engage at the end of the first quarter of this year.
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