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Import duties at the ports have not been increased, as is being speculated by some importers in the country, the Senior Minister, Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has said.

“We have not increased import duties at the ports, as is being claimed by some importers. What we have rather done is halt the misclassification, under-invoicing and over-invoicing of imports and are now effectively calculating duty on imported goods using the right figures to prevent corruption at the ports,” he explained.

  The explanation by the Senior Minister runs contrary to speculations by some importers that the government has increased duties on imported products at the ports.

Mr Osafo-Maafo explained that the move by the government to check misclassification and miscalculations was meant to, among other measures, help protect local manufacturing industries by getting importers to pay the right duties.

“In the 2017 budget, the government removed 12 taxes and no additional import duties have been imposed. What is happening now is that importers have started paying the right duties on their goods and that is the reason behind the rise in duties,” he said.

Criticisms

The government has lately come under criticism from the importing community following the rise in import duties and levies at the ports.

The importers, led by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), say excessive duties and taxes are hindering their operations.

They mention the introduction of the common external tariffs (CET) as one of the factors affecting their business operations.

They have, therefore, threatened to boycott business-related activities at the ports if more practical methods are not applied in running the revenue collection system at the ports.

But speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Forum in Accra Tuesday, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the action of the government formed part of efforts to protect local manufacturers.

The forum formed part of the thought-leadership programmes instituted by the Graphic Communications Group Limited to help shape government policy to improve the lives of the citizenry.

The Senior Minister affirmed the commitment of the government to ensure that the manufacturing sector played its rightful role in the economy and pledged its commitment to evolve policies that would make the environment better for players in that sector to strive.