Active policy related complaints

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Complaint number	NTB Type Category 1. Government participation in trade & restrictive practices tolerated by governments 1.1. Export subsidies 1.2. Government monopoly in export/import 1.3. State subsidies, procurement, trading, state ownership 1.4. Preference given to domestic bidders/suppliers 1.5. Requirement for counter trade 1.6. Domestic assistance programmes for companies 1.7. Discriminatory or flawed government procurement policies 1.8. Import bans 1.9. Determination of eligibility of an exporting country by the importing country 1.10. Determination of eligibility of an exporting establishment (firm, company) by the importing country 1.11. Occupational safety and health regulation 1.12. Multiplicity and Controls of Foreign exchange market 1.13. "Buy national" policy 1.14. Lack of coordination between government institutions 1.15. Other Category 2. Customs and administrative entry procedures 2.1. Government imposing antidumping duties 2.2. Arbitrary customs classification 2.3. Issues related to the rules of origin 2.4. Import licensing 2.5. Decreed customs surcharges 2.6. Additional taxes and other charges 2.7. International taxes and charges levied on imports and other tariff measures 2.8. Lengthy and costly customs clearance procedures 2.9. Issues related to transit fees 2.10. Inadequate or unreasonable customs procedures and charges 2.11. Lack of control in Customs infrastructure 2.12. Lack of capacity of Customs officers 2.13. Issues related to Pre-Shipment Inspections 2.14. Other Category 3. Technical barriers to trade (TBT) Category 4. Sanitary & phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures Category 5. Specific limitations 5.1. Quantitative restrictions 5.2. Exchange controls 5.3. Export taxes 5.4. Quotas 5.5. Import licensing requirements 5.6. Proportion restrictions of foreign to domestic goods (local content requirement) 5.7. Minimum import price limits 5.8. Embargoes 5.9. Non-automatic licensing 5.10. Prohibitions 5.11. Quantitative safeguard measures 5.12. Export restraint arrangements 5.13. Other quantity control measures 5.14. Restrictive licenses 5.15. Other Category 6. Charges on imports 6.1. Prior import deposits and subsidies 6.2. Administrative fees 6.3. Special supplementary duties 6.4. Import credit discriminations 6.5. Variable levies 6.6. Border taxes 6.7. Other Category 7. Other procedural problems 7.1. Arbitrariness 7.2. Discrimination 7.3. Corruption 7.4. Costly procedures 7.5. Lengthy procedures 7.6. Lack of information on procedures (or changes thereof) 7.7. Complex variety of documentation required 7.8. Consular and Immigration Issues 7.9. Inadequate trade related infrastructure 7.10. Other Category 8. Transport, Clearing and Forwarding 8.1. Government Policy and regulations 8.2. Administrative (Border Operating Hours, delays at border posts, etc.) 8.3. Immigration requirements (Visa, travel permit) 8.4. Transport related corruption 8.5. Infrastructure (Air, Port, Rail, Road, Border Posts,) 8.6. Vehicle standards 8.7. Costly Road user charges /fees 8.8. Issues related to transit Other Policy or Regulatory NTB Not a policy or regulatory NTB Check allUncheck all	Date of incident	Location ECOWAS Benin Burkina Faso Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Nigeria Senegal Togo ECOWAS UEMOA	Reporting country or region ECOWAS Benin Burkina Faso Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Nigeria Senegal Togo ECOWAS UEMOA	Status New Complaint registered with REC In process Resolved Non-actionable	Actions
NTB-000-005	6.5. Variable levies Policy/Regulatory	2014-03-19	Ghana: Point of Loading	Burkina Faso	In process	View
Complaint:	Section 20 (2) of the VAT Act, 1998 (Act 546) outlines the place of supply rules for services. One cardinal determinant of the tax status of a supply of service under the VAT Law is where the supply is made. That is, if established that the place of supply of a service is Ghana, then such a supply comes for consideration as taxable at the standard VAT rate under the VAT law. This directly implies that if the place of supply of service is not Ghana, no VAT should be levied.
Progress:	On 23rd September 2014, the Ghana National Committee of Borderless Alliance met the Ministry for Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana requesting that VAT should be pro-rated and charged on only the distance covered in the Ghanaian territory as is practiced in neighbouring countries. This is in direct adherence to the existing VAT law.
NTB-000-003	2.6. Additional taxes and other charges Policy/Regulatory	2014-08-23	Ghana: Aflao	Burkina Faso	In process	View
Complaint:	A particular Burkina Transport Company (name withheld) which had been subjected to withholding tax in Ghana when it was moving goods on transit.
Progress:	On 23rd September 2014, the Ghana National Committee of Borderless Alliance met the Ministry for Finance and Economic Planning requesting that the Ghana Revenue Authority issue a statement clarifying the issue and specifying that this refers to all foreign transport companies contracted to transport cargoes from Ghana’s port to another country.
NTB-000-001	2.9. Issues related to transit fees Policy/Regulatory	2014-07-23	Ghana: Aflao	Burkina Faso	In process	View
Complaint:	The US$200 transit fee is a disincentive to the transit export trade through the ports of Ghana, which mostly consist of low value raw or semi-finished agricultural products. These exports compete on the world market with similar products from others in the sub-region. This significantly affects export volumes. For example SOFITEX has discontinued the export of cotton through Ghana mainly because of the implementation of the US$ 200 transit fee. This measure is also encouraging malpractices in the system which deprives Ghana of the legitimate benefits. It is important to note also that Ghana is the only country within the West Africa sub-region where exports from landlocked countries are obliged to pay a transit fee. Another adverse effect of this fee is the fact that it encourages traders to move cargo in large consignments in order to avoid multiple payments per consignment. This often leads to congestion at the borders and also at the warehouses where goods are being offloaded. Such large movements are also not too good for the sustainability of the roads.
Progress:	The Ghana National Committee of Borderless Alliance respectfully requested the Ministry for Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana in a meeting on 23rd September 2014 for the repeal of those sections of the law (i.e. the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (Management/Amendment) Act (614), 2002 and Section 48 Sub-section 2 of PNDC L 330 as amended by the Commissioner’s Order No. 6 of 2002), especially when no such fees are imposed at the seaports and airports for the transit import trade.

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