The use of non-personalized vehicles is illegal

A non-personalized vehicle is a vehicle that has not yet been cleared through customs | Photo file

The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has reminded the public that the use of non-personalized vehicles is illegal and called for due diligence before purchasing such vehicles.

A non-personalized vehicle is a vehicle that has not passed acceptable customs procedures or a vehicle for which full duty has not been paid.

Judge Njornam Magah Yadjayime, Supervisor of the Vehicle Assessment Unit of the Bureau of Customs Technical Services, gave advice during a media interaction advised potential vehicle buyers to check with a customs offices across the country to confirm whether the vehicle was personalized. or not before making any payment.

He also urged car dealers or owners of non-personalized vehicles in their possession to submit them to customs for due diligence, reiterating that the use of non-personalized vehicles is illegal and punishable by law.

“Indeed, it has been brought to the attention of the Authority that many Ghanaians use such vehicles and the Authority through customs is embarking on a strong awareness mission while ensuring that the culprits are immediately apprehended, “he said.

Mr Yadjayime said such non-personalized vehicles have found their way into the public often through illegal imports, saying: “For example, someone goes to Togo, thinking the vehicles are cheaper there, and because our borders are porous, are able to force their way into our country by unapproved roads.

According to him, the existing ECOWAS regime that allowed the free movement of people and goods inadvertently allowed the act, explaining that people traveling had the right to use their vehicles in the ECOWAS destination for a period of time. 90 days for private vehicles, and 15 days for commercial ones.

He said that although Ghana’s laws allow period extensions by request to the Commissioner General, some people abused the system and ended up contributing to the number of non-personalized vehicles in Ghana.

He revealed that, after the expiration, some of them were trying to search for a statement of a car that had gone through the system, scan the documents, chassis number and other details of the vehicle before releasing it. sell, a situation that has led potential buyers to buy the wrong vehicles without realizing it.

He added that others went through the transit regime to divert cars to other countries in the sub-region and that some vehicles also ended up in the category of non-personalized, when a detection of ‘Discrepancies bordering on in-full payment of pre-release duties he said could be the result of inaccurate toll calculations with respect to engine age, value and displacement, among others.

Mr. Yadjayime said customs sealed loopholes in the system, which included; having in its database vehicles imported temporarily by the various legal channels, therefore, failure to exit within the time limit would result in seizure.

He said that although they did not have a preventive working group to choose these vehicles, they were able to detect those with falsified chassis numbers, comply with those that were cleared and detect the full rights paid on a vehicle with an original chassis.

He noted that the recovery of these seized vehicles would be preceded by the payment of all rights and penalties, stating that “you have 30 days to request the restoration, when the commissioner grants this restoration, you pay them. duties and a penalty, then you can collect the vehicle for registration.