The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) disclosed in an interview with Citi FM on Thursday, September 17, that they had been notified by the Finance Ministry through the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) of the suspension.
The act which was passed in March this year amends the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891) and was set to roll out on November 1, 2020.
The chairman of the Tema branch of the GIFF, Mr. Alex Asiamah, said importers can go on with their business of importing such cars.
“… So that’s the news at the moment. It is coming from the Ministry [of Finance], but through our sector commander, the Assistant Commander of Customs in Tema,” he said.
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Mr. Asiamah believes the widespread agitations by stakeholders including the Coalition of Car and Spare Parts Dealers may have influenced the government’s decision.
He noted that the benefit of the suspension of the law for freight forwarders is that “we will continue to enjoy our business of providing such cars for our customers and when that one happens, it means we are going to continue to enjoy the service so it’s welcoming news.”
Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress’ flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama promised to scrap the law should he be voted into power come December 7.
According to him, he would invest in the local automotive industry at Suame Magazine in Kumasi and Abossey Okai in Accra rather than collapse them.
He made the promise when the NDC launched its 2020 manifesto on Monday, September 7, 2020.