The Ghana Revenue Authority’s Customs Division, a body with extensive experience and expertise, has clarified its practice of using foreign currencies in the calculation of customs values before conversion to the Ghanaian cedi for duty payments at ports and borders.
Smile Agbemenu, Chief Revenue Officer at the Policy and Programmes Department of Customs, recently explained the rationale behind this approach during a demonstration on the Eye on Port program, further instilling confidence in their methods.
Agbemenu cited Section 69 of the customs law, which mandates using foreign currencies reflected in invoices for goods purchased abroad. This ensures accuracy in assessing customs duties based on the Bank of Ghana’s current exchange rates.
“The Ghana Cedi is not an international trading currency,” Agbemenu emphasized, noting that most invoices, particularly those from major trading partners like China, are denominated in US dollars.
The Customs Division offers an online duty calculator, a user-friendly tool accessible through the Ghana Revenue Authority’s website, “gra.gov.gh,” or alternatively through “external.unipassghana.com,” connecting external stakeholders in cargo clearance to customs services. Agbemenu described the platform as intuitive and easy to use, though recommending assistance from customs house agents for navigating technical terminologies, ensuring a smooth experience for users.
Users need specific details for calculating duties, such as net weight, HS Code, Customs Procedure Code, country of origin, Free Board Value, Cost, Insurance and Freight Value. Agbemenu highlighted that the Customs Procedure Code depends on the cargo admission process, including home consumption, warehousing, or transit.
Regarding used vehicles, Agbemenu clarified that the duty calculator provides estimates based on previously cleared cars of similar make, model, and manufacturing year. However, access to specific duty costs is restricted due to incurred costs per vehicle valuation request.
The duty calculator also provides detailed breakdowns of tax computations affecting final duty payments, encompassing various fees and levies such as the Ghana Shippers Authority Service Fee, Network Charges, National Health Insurance Levy, Ghana Education Trust Fund Import Levy, and transnational levies like ECOWAS and African Union Import Levies.
Overall, Agbemenu underscored the platform’s utility in guiding importers through duty estimation processes, ensuring compliance with customs regulations, and the Customs Division’s commitment to facilitating smoother cargo clearance procedures, providing reassurance to the audience.
