Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Samson Asaki Awingobit, has bemoaned the huge increment in freight charges in some few months.
According to him, just before and after last year’s Christmas, importers were paying around $2,500 to import a 20-footer container and about $4,000 to also import a 40-footer container into the country.
Speaking to the media, Mr Awingobit posited that, shipping lines on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic increased freight charges with the excuse that they had made losses and thus are recovering costs with the increment in freight charges.
“Shipping lines felt that there was COVID-19, and so they had made losses and in order to recover their costs, they increased freight charges from about $4,000 to $12,000 per container,” he said.
“A 20-footer container that used to cost $2,000 now costs around $6,000,” he added.
According to Mr Awingobit, the authorities held no discussions with importers and exporters ahead of the tariff hikes by shipping lines.
“So, we are questioning why is that the local rep here representing the principal, are now introducing these local charges. It is unlawful, it has no merit”, he stated.
“They are doing all this because, we, as a country, don’t know where we are positioning these local shipping companies to be regulated,” he averred.
“We are calling on the Transport Minister, he has to be bold enough, he has to have the balls to say: ‘Look, we have the Ghana Maritime Authority Shipping Act, (Act 630) for the Ghana Maritime Authority to regulate local shipping companies in this country”.
“The Ghana Shipping Authority Act was there to do advocacy, they are to protect the interest of importers, but they have no clue, they have no teeth to bite, they cannot, it is not punitive enough, it cannot punish,” he further asserted.
