Dr Godfred Oko-Appiah (2nd left) and his lieutenants
Dr Godfred Oko-Appiah, Tema Sector Commander, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has appealed to freight forwarders at the Tema Port to call off their strike.
Dr Okoh-Appiah made the appeal when he met leadership of the Joint Committee of Freight Forwarders Association after members wore red bands and refused to pay duties to GRA as part of their three-day strike action across the country.
This follows a one-week ultimatum to government and GRA to suspend the implementation of the Cargo Track Note (CTN) policy for broader consultations to address the various issues.
He said the action would have adverse effect on the clients of the Freight Forwarders, saying “go and see how disappointed some of your clients are, containers have been positioned and we don’t need to collapse the industry no matter what.”
“I will urge you with all respect to go back to the field and help your clients and clear the cargo. I even met a man holding money who want to go to the bank to pay, but does not know what to do,” he added.
Dr Okoh-Appiah gave the assurance that management of the Tema Sector of Customs would address the issues.
Kwabena Ofosu-Appiah, President, Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), responding to the plea, reminded the sector commander that the strike was ongoing at all the entry points of the country.
Mr Ofosu-Appiah observed that the GRA Custom Division Commissioner recently asked importers to pay the duties themselves when forwarders embarked on the strike.
“We are embarking on the exercise with clean minds as we are mindful of the legal, bureaucracies and other cost elements associated with the implementation of the CTN as government of Ghana has no power to prevent freight forwarders from paying any charges.”
The GIFF President disclosed that even though government claimed there was no cost associated with the CTN, there were five cost elements associated with it and therefore called for broad discussions.
– GNA