LCB Ghana announces rebates for exports

LCB Ghana, the company mandated to undertake the disinfection of cargoes at the ports has announced special concessions for all exports leaving the country.

To this end, the Minister for Health, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu and the Chief Executive Officer of LCB Ghana, Mr. Kareem Abu have concluded meetings on the matter and have given the green light for the commencement of the implementation of the rebates.

The move according to Mr. Kareem Abu is in line with government’s policy of keeping the cost of exports as low as possible, adding that the plan is to ensure that Ghanaian exporters operate in a competitive environment.

He further revealed that the company is also absorbing the cost of disinfecting all trucks carrying cocoa into the ports in line with government’s decision to offer incentives and concessions to Ghana’s cocoa.

LCB Ghana which is currently operating in the Ports of Tema, Takoradi and the Meridian Port Services (MPS) terminal has been at the forefront of disinfecting all cargoes leaving or entering the country.

The Company’s mandate has recently been expanded to include the disinfection of market places and schools across the country, a task Mr. Abu Kareem says will be carried out to the letter.

Speaking to the media shortly after his meeting with the Minister for Health, Mr. Kareem Abu said ‘’we have just concluded a meeting which centred on giving concessions to exporters. This is in line with government’s policy of promoting exports and keeping the cost low. So we have agreed to implement what we have discussed as a way of supporting the policy. I believe this should be very good news for Ghanaian exporters’’.

Mr. Kareem Abu said the company at all times aspires to put the national interest first saying ‘’ it is not all about the money. As a company we are obliged to put the national interest first and that is what we are doing. We want to keep Ghana safe from disease and contaminations. We want to protect and prevent any catastrophe because we know that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation’’.

It is the view of government that export duties and taxes tend to increase costs and make Ghanaian exports noncompetitive in global markets. The policy objective therefore is to ensure export duties and taxes do not increase the cost of exports and make them noncompetitive in international markets.

Government has also made it clear that it will only levy export taxes on selected products at a rate equivalent to the cost of any services provided to that sector, exemption from taxes normally payable and any social costs such as damage to the environment or utilisation of national resources.