The Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have jointly debunked assertions that laden containers could be stolen at the country’s ports.
This follows an assertion by an importer that his container had been stolen at the Tema Port even though he had paid duties twice on the consignment.
The said importer told broadcast journalist Kofi Adoma’s Kofi TV in an interview that he was holding the Port Authority culpable for his alleged missing container.
Speaking on Eye on Port, the Chief Revenue Officer in Charge of State Warehouse at the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Mr. George Tettey, rejected the claim stating that it is virtually impossible for containers to be stolen at the port under the circumstances described by the importer.
According to him, robust and rigorous procedures are deployed at the country’s ports by his outfit in collaboration with key institutions, hence, making it impossible for such an attempt to be feasible.
“We have Customs Preventive presence at that terminal, we have GPHA security presence at that terminal so to say that containers get stolen at the port it is just below belt,” he said.
Though he empathised with the importer and many others in similar predicaments, Mr. Tettey said the assertions are a clear indication of the lack of proper understanding of customs processes and regulations.
According to the Marketing and Public Affairs Manager of the Port of Tema, Abena Serwaa Opoku Fosu, the said container of goods was not under the supervision of the GPHA because it was enlisted under the Uncleared Cargo List (UCL) after it was not cleared by the importer within the stipulated time.
“From there it had left the responsibility of the Port Authority so whatever happens there is between the agent and GRA, Customs,” she said.
Section 53 of the Customs Act 891 states that an importer forfeits his/her goods after non-payment of duties within the stipulated 21 days grace period given for general goods and 60 days for vehicles.
Such uncleared cargoes are confiscated by the state and they are subsequently auctioned, in most cases, at a cheaper rate for the state to recoup the duties on them.
Some of the auction money is allotted to the Port Authority as recompense to make up for rent charges and other terminal fees lost to the uncleared cargo.