Prices of vehicle spare parts to drop

Prices of vehicle spare parts on the market will soon be reduced between 10 per cent and 15 per cent to make automobile users heave a sigh of relief, the acting Chairman of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association, Mr Clement Boateng, has said.

That, he said, was as a result of the implementation of a new guideline which allowed auto part dealers to provide their own values and prices at which goods are bought and imported into the country.

It was designed by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and dealers who are represented by Abossey Okai (Accra) and Suame Magazine (Kumasi) Spare Parts Dealers associations.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Mr Boateng observed that the dealers had been made to understand that the new guidelines would be used as a guide for the valuation of all imported auto spare parts.

However, he noted that customs was obliged to use any authentic invoice that might be brought to it because the document developed by the two parties would serve as a guide.

In this regard, he urged members of the association to always try as much as possible to provide it with authentic invoices from their suppliers.

After the document was designed, subsequent durbars were held for the Commissioner of customs, Mr Isaac Crentsil, to explain the issues to automobile dealers in Accra and Kumasi.

“These two durbars enabled the Commissioner to explain what transpired between customs and the association to its members in the country,” Mr Boateng said.

Joint statement

In a joint statement, the two associations commended the government for heeding to their appeal after their members started agitating over high import duties regardless of the removal of the 10 per cent import duty in the 2017 Budget Statement.

The association also commended the Commissioner and his deputy for engaging their members in several meetings.

The move helped pave the way for the introduction of the new guideline which provides the opportunity for the spare parts dealers to provide their own values and prices at which they purchase goods on the international market.

For that reason, Mr Boateng stated, members of the associations had pledged to further reduce the price of their goods as soon as implementation of the guide starts.

Increase in transport fare

On the proposed increase in transport fares, the acting chair noted that prices of spare parts had not been increased for the past two years.

He cautioned the Ghana Private Roads and Transport Union (GPRTU) to desist from any intended transport fare increments based on spare parts prices because such claims were false.

Urging the public to remain calm as spares parts prices had not been increased, he asked the GPRTU not to shift the blame on its members for their proposed increment.