Ghana will lose ¢ 802 million GH in 3 years due to the Customs Amendment Act – Dealers

Business news for Thursday, September 24, 2020

Source: Class FM

2020-09-24

Ghana could lose more than ¢ 802 million GH in three years, if the Customs Amendment Act of 2020, which bans the importation of accidental vehicles, is implemented, Clifford Ansu, Secretary General of the Ghana Automobile Dealers Union (ADUG) has said Valentina Ofori-Afriyie on Class91.3FM’s ‘The Manifesto’ segment of the radio station’s 505 news analysis program.

“The amount that Ghana is going to lose in these three years is huge,” Ansu said, explaining: “Ghana will lose GH ¢ 802,251,785 during the first three years if the 2020 Customs Amendment Act goes into effect.”

According to him, “we are going to lose this money because the law says that if you can assemble a particular vehicle in this country, you have the opportunity and the advantage of bringing as much of this particular product as possible to this country without paying a pesewa” .

“So if this is the case, and you are asking those of us in the industry that we prefer to pay or you are even increasing our tariff (five percent now to 35 percent), it means that we prefer to pay the money for people who they bring the cars into the country for free, ”Ansu said, adding that the dealers intend to hold a 7-day demonstration against the government if it does not eliminate certain parts of the law.

The government of Ghana recently suspended enforcement of the law, revealed the regional chair of Tema of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Alex Asiamah.

He said that the Commander of Customs in the Port of Tema made an announcement to that effect.

Asiamah said on Thursday, September 17, 2020 that: “This same night, I received information informing the general public, interested parties and the importing public that Customs will continue to do their normal clearance of such vehicles.

“So importers can continue their business of importing those cars. So that’s the news right now. It comes from the Ministry [of Finance], but through our sector commander, the Subcommander of Customs in Tema, ”he told Citi FM, based in Accra.

According to Asiamah, the ban sparked a lot of anger among importers.

“You can recall that when the news came, the importers or dealers of those cars weren’t happy with it and then it even went off in different directions to make it look strange,” he said.

“For us as freight forwarders, we will continue to enjoy our business of providing such cars to our customers and when that happens, it means that we will continue to enjoy the service, so this is good news,” Asiamah said.

A few weeks ago, the Coalition of Auto and Parts Dealers, Clearing Agents and Craftsmen in Tema, Spintex and Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region, together with the Vehicle and Asset Dealers Union of Ghana (VADUG), canceled a demonstration scheduled for Thursday, August 27, 2020 on the ban on the importation of recovered vehicles.

A statement signed by Mr. Kofi Asamoah, Secretary of the Tema Automobile Dealers Association, dated Wednesday 26 August 2020, explained: “This follows a meeting called by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, at which In attendance were the Commissioner and senior officials from the GRA Customs Division, the Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority and Coalition Representatives, as well as the leadership of the Ghana Automobile Dealers Union (ADUG) and the Dealers Association Abossey Okai Replacement Parts ”.

The statement read: “The Minister and Customs Commissioner have assured Coalition members that their concerns will be addressed during the implementation of the 2020 Customs Amendment Act and that further consultations will take place to define detailed implementation modalities. of the law. “.

In its previous statement notifying the rally, the coalition said that the 2020 Customs Amendment Act, which was expected to come into force in November this year, will have an adverse impact on the sector in terms of employment. .

Ghana banned the import of cars for more than 10 years to encourage international companies such as Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co. to establish local plants in the West African country.

The new law also provides import duty refunds for companies that make or assemble cars in Ghana, according to the law of parliament obtained Thursday by Bloomberg.

The embargo will take effect six months after manufacturing or assembly of new vehicles begins in Ghana under a special government program designed to attract investment.

Volkswagen, Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Renault SA are among the automakers evaluating local vehicle assembly in a country where used cars account for roughly 70% of vehicle imports. Ghana seeks to become an automobile manufacturing hub for West Africa, a region of more than 380 million people.

The import restrictions could cost the government up to $ 143 million in customs revenue in the first three years after implementation, according to parliamentary documents. Used car dealers offer more affordable deals in a country where auto loans are rare.

The law, signed by President Nana Akufo-Addo on April 30, also prohibits the importation of cars that have been involved in accidents, which are brought in and repaired by dealers to provide even cheaper options to consumers.