The impending implementation of a new Advanced Shipment Information (ASHI) system which will provide pre-arrival cargo information for importers to process their goods at the ports is brewing tension between freight forwarders and the Ghana Shippers Authority.
Effective March 1, 2015, ASHI will be a pre-requisite for clearing of goods at the ports and comes with additional charges to the importer.
The Freight Forwarders contend that the new system will only overburden the importer by raising the cost of doing business.
When in force, importers will have to pay an ASHI fee of €20 per the following: 300 metric tonnes of bulk cargo; 100 metric tonnes of conventional cargo; four TEUs of containerised cargo; three units of vehicles less than 5mt; a unit of vehicle 5mt or more.
The Freight Forwarders have, however, vowed to resist the implementation of the new system until further and wider consultations are held.
At a stakeholders’ meeting held last Friday, members of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders requested of the Ghana Shippers Authority to tarry the implementation of the new system for broader consultations.
According to them, they would want the cumbersome procedures at the port to be resolved before the implementation of the new system.
But Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, Dr Kofi Mbeah, says the new system is to help address bottlenecks that delay the clearance of goods at the port and to ensure some level of transparency in the system.
He noted that about 70 to 80% of cargos that arrive at the ports attract demurrage charges.
In 2013, shippers in Ghana paid demurrage of about US$75 million and rent of about GH₵30 million resulting from delays in clearing cargos at the ports.
He explained that contrary to claims that importers could access information on their cargo for free, there is currently no system that allows importers to have documentation of their cargo right from the original source with all the required attachments of documentation.
He contended that, currently, Destination Inspection Companies have had to query about 70% of documentations presented by importers, and insisted the ASHI will help bring transparency into the system.
He added that the new system will also address the issues of under invoicing and bring an end to “the intrusive examination of containers at the ports” as it defeats the very essence of containerisation.
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