There is an uneasy calm in the Ghana’s maritime community, following the directive given by the Minister of Transport, Mr. Kweku Ofori Asiamah, for the waiver of demurrage and storage rent charges normally paid by freight forwarders and clearing agents when they delay in clearing their goods at the sea ports.
The Minister took the decision following pressure mounted on the government by the clearing agents, that, as a result of the recent Covid-19 lockdown, they could not clear their goods on time, and that the state should intervene for the ship owners to waive the demurrage and other charges.
The Minister’s order has, however, created a sort of confusion among the industry players, as it fails to state whether the waiver applies to cargoes landed before or during the time of the lockdown.
Whilst the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) is insisting on the strict application of the Minister’s directive, the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana (SOAAG) wants to know if its members would also be entitled to reliefs.
Available information to The Chronicle indicates that the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) charges the shipping lines towage fees before their ships are brought into the port to discharge their cargo. The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) also charges for the usage of our territorial waters.
To SOAAG members, if the Transport Minister wants them to forgo the demurrage charges, then these fees they pay to the GPHA and GMA must also be waived. Sources within the association said because of the Covid-19, business has generally gone down, and that they sail to Ghana, in most cases, half empty. What has even exacerbated the situation is the tone of the Minister’s directive, which says uncleared goods, instead of goods that arrived at the port during the lockdown.
On April 17, 2020, the Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, signed a letter captioned DIRECTIVES ON THE CLEARANCE OF CARGOES AT THE SEAPORTS OF GHANA. The letter was addressed to the Chief Executive, GSA, and copied to the Director General, GPHA, and Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in Accra.
Part of the letter reads: In the light of the foregoing, I hereby direct that you communicate to all relevant stakeholders the suspension of all applicable charges, i.e. demurrage, detention and storage rent charges on cargoes, which have remained uncleared since the lockdown came into effect on 30th March 2020.
“This directive is to ensure that shippers and other stakeholders do not take actions that may jeopardise government’s efforts at curbing the spread of the virus, on the basis of averting the accumulation of costs in the clearance of the cargoes.”
In response to the Minister’s letter, the Chief Executive Officer of the GSA, Ms Benonita Bismarck, on April 20, 2020, also wrote a letter to all stakeholders in the industry, under the heading, SUSPENSION OF APPLICABLE TIME-RELATED PENALTIES IN THE CLEARANCE OF CARGOES AT THE PORTS IN THE WAKE OF THE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS.
The letter reads: The GPHA, and other key stakeholders, including your outfit, have shown commitment and great sacrifices to ensure the clearance of import and export cargo through the ports in these difficult times, but unfortunately, a number of shippers have had to bear the brunt of the unintended consequences of the restrictions, which include the social distancing protocol.
This has made it difficult for many of them to clear their cargoes within the stipulated time periods, resulting in huge demurrages. It is in this vein that, acting on the directive of the Honourable Minister for Transport, we hereby inform you of the suspension of all applicable time-related penalties, i.e. demurrage/detention and storage rent charges in the clearance of cargo at the ports, in the wake of Covid-19 induced restrictions, effective 30th March 2020.
In other words, demurrage/detention and storage rent charges on all cargoes which have remained uncleared at the ports, from March 30, 2020 to April 19, 2020, are to be waived.
Ms Benonita Bismarck’s letter was copied to the ministers of Transport, Finance, Trade and Industry, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Committee of Freight Forwarding Association, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), and Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Executive Secretary of SOAAG, Perpetual Osei-Bonsu, in a reply to the letter from the GSA, states that “after careful review of your letter/directive, we wish to, on behalf of our members, express reservations with regard to aspects of the contents. We are at a loss as to what delays could have been encountered by customers resorting to [the] online process instead of walk-in service that still seems to be their preferred mode of conducting business.
“Nevertheless, we have assured customers of our continued support and preparedness to consider their concerns on a case by case basis. It is instructive to bring to your attention that shipping lines have encountered huge losses in our operations. That most lines are sailing at anything between 50-70 percentage capacity, however, costs such as port dues, cargo dues, stevedore, [and] GMA charges, just to mention but a few, have remained constant adding to their losses.
Notwithstanding this position that has been taken by SOAAG, the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) and the Importers and Exporters Association insist the government must be firm in its decision for the waiver. “
However, an astute freight forwarder, who preferred anonymity, is of the view that the battle ground is too slippery for the government, especially since the issue has to do with a request to the shipping lines instead of it being a directive.
The source went on that in 1974, when then Head of State, Col Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, caused the formation of the Ghana Shippers Council (GSC) with Mr Addico as its leader, it served only as the mouthpiece for the big time trading establishments, namely United African Company (UAC) and Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC).
With the passage of time, the council metamorphosed into an authority, making Ghana the only country to have a shipper’s authority. According to the source, at worst, it is the GMA that is clothed with the powers to issue an ultimatum to the shipping lines.
By John Bediako
The post Tension in Shipping Industry … Over Minister’s waiver directive appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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