Freight forwarders to petition parliament over CTN

The Institute of Freight Forwarders has taken its fight against the implementation of the Cargo Tracking System (CTN) a notch higher as it begins processes to petition Parliament over the policy.

According to the freight forwarders, the Cargo Tracking Notes is a duplication of an already existing legislative Instrument, in the Ghana Shippers Authority Regulation, 2012, and thus, the new policy, will only bring extra cost to shippers.

The Ghana Revenue Authority(GRA), began implementation of the CTN, to allow freight forwarders upload information on a particular consignment unto the platform from the country of origin.

This is subsequently relayed unto the Ghana customs platform in real time and charged between 100 and 200 dollars per consignment of goods.

According to the GRA, the move is to modernize its operations at the port in line with international best practices.

But the Freight forwarders say there is an already existing framework serving the same purpose and therefore there is no need for the introduction of a new platform.

President of the Institute of Freight Forwarders, Kwabena Ofosu Appiah, said their latest decision is due to the fact that the GRA has refused to respond to their call for a review of the new policy.

“We wrote to the GRA commissioner in February this year to alert him on the old LI in case he is not aware, which we know he is, but we didn’t receive a reply, and since he didn’t respond then Parliament will be in a better position to explain to us the difference.”

The institute believes Ghana could be facing legal action from the international shipping community, if nothing is done about the situation.

“International bodies such as the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Shippers Association can take this up and sue the country for the duplication, a duplication which will only frustrate them,” Mr. Ofosu Appiah added.

In contrast however, government is confident the policy will facilitate trade by reducing the turnaround time for cargo clearance as well as the payment of fees in demurrage.

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By: Nana Oye Ankrah | citibusinessnews.com | Ghana