Importers advised against fraudulent clearing agents
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is advising vehicle importers to engage the services of recognised clearing agencies to avoid being defrauded at the ports.
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Officials have also entreated vehicle importers to endeavour to demand customs declarations from agents they engage to clear vehicles on their behalf because the declaration often indicates the exact amount payable as duty cost.
“How do you pay duty when you have not seen the declaration form to know the exact duty cost being imposed on your vehicle?” the Principal Revenue Officer and a member of the Vehicle Allocation Committee (VAC) at Customs, Mr Peter Bakufan, queried.
He told the Daily Graphic in Accra last Friday that many vehicle importers were being misled by some unscrupulous agents into believing that they could get lower duty rates paid for their vehicles.
Mr Bakufan said the practice had provided a framework for some agents to unduly delay the clearance processes beyond the stipulated 60-day clearance period only to dupe importers. The situation also leaves many vehicles uncleared at the port.
He said this had led to several uncleared vehicles at the Tema Port being confiscated by the state and allocated to people who could pay the duty to the state.
Seizure
A United States (US)-based Ghanaian, Mr Jonathan Hammond, and his wife had over the last one year been battling Customs Division over the seizure and allocation of their Audi Q7 vehicle to an unknown person.
The vehicle, which arrived in Ghana on July 21, 2014, was alleged to have been quickly allocated to an unnamed government official under the guise that it was affected by the 60-day period for which it was supposed to be cleared.
An importer, Mr Francis Dunyo, also suffered a similar fate recently when his 2008 Toyota Highlander was confiscated and subsequently allocated to an unidentified person.
He, however, received his vehicle after he had petitioned the Commissioner of Customs and was made to pay penalty to the state.
Stories of vehicle seizure by the state had been widespread within the port for the last decade with some importers and Customs clashing over such incidents.
But Mr Bakufan was of the view that those who found themselves in such situations might have dealt with unrecognised clearing agencies.
He explained that the unrecognised agents might have misled the victims into under-declaring the value of their vehicles with the view to paying lower duties.
“It is necessary for importers to be abreast of the clearance processes as against relying on unqualified agents, which often provides a framework for them (agents) to dupe importers,” he added.
Mr Bakufan also counselled importers to take cognisance of everything surrounding their imports and report the activities of agents they felt were not providing them with satisfactory service to customs for redress.
Customs declarations
Mr Bakufan also entreated importers to endeavour to demand customs declaration forms from agents they engaged to clear their vehicles on their behalf, as the declaration stated the exact amount payable as duties.
The declaration which comes with numbers, he said, would enable an importer to cross-check from customs before they could make any payment on their vehicles.
Writer’s email: della.russel@graphic.com.gh