The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has extended the maximum number of days for transit consignments to exit the borders of Ghana to destination countries.
The days have been extended from seven (7) to ten (10) days.
In addition, the penalty for overstaying the prescribed period of 10 days, has been reduced from GHS 1,000 per day to GHS 500.
These
new measures were revealed by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs Division in
charge of Transit, Mr. Emmanuel Tetteh at a sensitisation workshop organised by
the Ghana Shippers’ Authority on March 22,2019 in Tema for about 300 transit
truck owners and drivers.
Mr
Tetteh said the concessions have been made to address the concerns of the
transit drivers, importers and other stakeholders about the inadequacy of the time
limit set for transit trucks to exit the borders.
He therefore
called on the truck drivers to comply with the new directives and added that in
the event of vehicle breakdown or accident, the driver or his agent should
contact the nearest Customs post for assistance.
The time limit for the exit of transit trucks laden with transit consignment was instituted by the Customs Division in October 2017 to ensure the integrity of the consignment and prevent the possibility for fraud along the transit route.
This directive was accompanied by a penalty regime to forestall any possibility of non-compliance.
Also present at the workshop were resource persons
from the Ghana Highways Authority, Ghana Police Service and the National Road
Safety Commission, who also sensitised the drivers on road safety and major
road traffic regulations; drunk driving and its legal implications and the
safety of the roads; and the implementation of the Axle Load Regulations in
Road Traffic Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2180).