The government is expected to implement the much-talked-about reversal of the 50 percent benchmark value on imports today, Tuesday, January 4, 2021.
This was announced by the Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA, in a press statement issued on Sunday, January 2, 2021.
However, some importers in the Ashanti Region are still opposed to the policy. They say the policy will adversely affect their operations.
“The system is very hard so if they are going to remove that subsidy, then it means we are going to pay more and that portion would have to be added to the cost of the goods which is going to make it very expensive for us,” one of the importers said in a Citi News interview.
“We (importers) face a lot of problems at the ports because now the dollar is up, and the duty is also up. So we want the government to scrap that policy because there are a lot of nuisance taxes on our bills. More than 15 taxes, and if it is not looked at, many of us will be forced to stop importing,” another importer also said.
About the policy
The government introduced the benchmark policy in 2019 in accordance with the World Customs Organization’s policy of regular review of valuation database.
Under this policy, certain commodities are benchmarked to the prevailing world prices as a risk management tool, to reflect the true market dynamics of these commodities.
It also takes into consideration factors such as protection of health, the environment, and security, as well as protection of local industries.
In line with the reversal, relevant stakeholders were consulted with the aim of reaching a consensus on the implementation of the policy.
