The Ghana Union of Traders Association has raised concerns over high cost of duties at the country’s ports.
GUTA says despite signs of economic stability, duties paid at the ports remain high, placing a significant burden on traders and importers.
The Union said although government promised to rationalise duties, it has delayed in doing so.
Addressing the Minority Caucus on Thursday, GUTA President, Clement Boateng argued that port duties should have been reviewed and rationalised before the deployment of Artificial Intelligence systems at the ports, which he says has led to a surge in charges.
“You promised duty rationalization and you have not rationalized the duty, because we think that the duties we have been paying is high.
“We all know that we use the dollar in calculating the duties at the port but it is being converted in cedis for us to pay. Irrespective of the fact that there has been stability and so frequent changes of the rates at every week at the port, we still think the duties that we are paying is high.
“The reports that I have been receiving from my members is that they are now paying very huge duties because the values of the duties have been increased, they are paying twice of what they use to pay since the deployment of the AI,” he stated.
