The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has made a direct appeal to President John Dramani Mahama to suspend implementation of the Ghana Easy Pass Programme.
The report indicates that the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has made a direct appeal to President John Dramani Mahama to suspend implementation of the Ghana Easy Pass Programme.
It further notes that it warned that the new import verification regime will increase business costs and ultimately drive up consumer prices.
In a statement issued on Monday, July 6, FABAG described the Ghana Standards Authority’s decision to introduce the mandatory pre-export conformity verification programme as an unnecessary burden on businesses already struggling with rising operating costs.
The association stated it “expresses its strongest condemnation of the decision by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) to introduce the Ghana Easy Pass Programme, a mandatory pre-export conformity verification regime for imported products destined for Ghana.”
According to FABAG, the policy comes at a difficult time for the private sector and duplicates the work of existing state institutions responsible for product safety and quality assurance.
“It is difficult to understand why government would seek to impose another layer of bureaucracy and cost on importers when existing regulatory institutions are already adequately mandated to ensure product safety and standards,” the statement said.
FABAG argued that agencies, including the Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Standards Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority, and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, already inspect and test imported goods.
“If there are operational challenges within these institutions, they should be strengthened, not bypassed through the introduction of another costly programme.”
The association warned that the new regime would significantly increase the cost of importing goods.
“This policy is simply adding another tax by another name,” FABAG stated. It stated importers would be required to pay additional certification fees, incur extra administrative expenses, experience shipment delays and absorb higher compliance costs before products even leave their countries of origin.
“These costs will inevitably be passed on to the Ghanaian consumer through higher prices.”
FABAG stated businesses were still recovering from previous regulatory reforms and were simultaneously dealing with rising utility tariffs, high interest rates, exchange rate volatility, expensive transport and the high cost of borrowing.
“The private sector cannot continue to absorb an endless stream of new costs without serious consequences for investment, employment and consumer prices.”
The association also expressed surprise that government had revived a policy which it stated had previously been rejected by the business community.
