Government must review Customs House Decree of 1978

Aflao, Nov 29, GNA - A former Vice-Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders, Mr Llewellyn Ayayee, has asked the government to review the 1978 Customs Licensing Decree to help bring the country's freight forwarding industry to international standards.

Mr Llewellyn Ayayee was speaking at the 20th Anniversary of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) at Aflao. The anniversary was under the theme, "Freight Forwarding -Achievements and Challenges."

He noted that the decree erroneously narrowed the description of the profession to clearing goods and left out other important activities of the profession.

He said some of the activities excluded are: expert advice, transportation, documentation, freight charge payments, packing, warehousing insurance arrangements, consolidation and groupage, import and bulk breakings. Mr Ayayee said it was, therefore, time to craft the type of laws that would serve the interest of the country. He called for the establishment of a Chartered Institute of Freight Forwarders to train more professionals with specialized skills to match the global market. Mr Ayayee said though the GIFF is a private sector institution it could play a vital role in the economy. Mr Paul Amaning-Kwarteng, Aflao Area Head of Value Added Tax Division, said that many freight forwarding companies in Aflao risked being blacklisted because of their slow response to filing their tax returns.