- Port trade groups threaten shutdown as GUTA demands suspension of Publican AI
Pressure is building at Ghana’s ports after the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) called for the immediate suspension of the Publican AI customs valuation system and directed freight forwarders and clearing agents to stop paying duties and lay down their tools from Monday, April 13 to Friday, April 17, 2026. The group says the system, in its current form, has created severe trade disruptions, prolonged cargo delays and sharply higher costs for businesses.
The threat now appears to be broadening beyond GUTA alone. Earlier this month, a coalition led by the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) and including CUBAG, ACHAG, FFAG, the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, TAGG, and Exim Frozen Foods called for the immediate review or suspension of the same system, arguing that it was generating operational bottlenecks, mounting financial losses and uncertainty across the trading community.
That coalition posture gives sharper weight to warnings that the disruption could evolve into a wider clearing stoppage across the ports. GUTA said traders continue to face unpredictable and excessively high duty assessments, prolonged delays in cargo clearance, and escalating demurrage and rent charges, while also complaining of the lack of an effective and accessible dispute-resolution mechanism for valuation disagreements.
Those complaints go to the heart of the port economy. If duties become unpredictable and clearance timelines stretch, the effect is not limited to importers alone. It spills into haulage, warehousing, factory input supply and, ultimately, consumer prices. That is why the latest warning is being taken seriously by market participants: a halt in duty payments and clearing activity, even for a few days, would slow cargo movement and deepen pressure on already time-sensitive supply chains. This is an inference based on the described duties stoppage and delays.
The groups’ objections have also taken on a stronger industrial tone. TAGG has separately threatened mass industrial action at all ports and entry points from April 13 to April 17, reinforcing the sense that resistance to Publican AI is hardening into a coordinated campaign rather than a routine policy complaint.
At issue is not whether customs digitisation is necessary, but whether the system has been rolled out in a way that is lawful, transparent and workable. GIFF’s general secretary, according to reports on the coalition’s press conference, argued that the directive governing Publican AI should be reviewed in line with international valuation rules and Ghana’s legal framework, while stakeholders also demanded an independent appeals mechanism and broader consultation with traders and freight forwarders.
Government, however, has defended the rollout. The Ministry of Finance says Publican AI is part of a wider strategy to digitise customs, streamline port operations, and protect revenue, while the GRA Commissioner-General has argued that the system is helping expose leakages and does not itself arbitrarily determine customs values.
Even so, the immediate political and commercial risk lies with the opposing bloc. If GUTA’s directive holds and allied groups, including GIFF, ACHAG, CUBAG, TAGG and producer interests, sustain pressure, the week could see a significant slowdown in clearing activity at the ports. The inclusion of business groups tied to food and beverage supply chains raises the possibility that the dispute could quickly move beyond customs procedure into a broader cost-of-living and supply question. The specific inclusion of Exim Frozen Foods in the coalition is confirmed; the wider implication for producer-linked supply chains is an inference.
In effect, the Publican AI row is becoming a test of how far government can push revenue-protection reforms before trade facilitation itself begins to seize up. The system may have been designed to tighten compliance, but its opponents now argue that it is doing so at the cost of speed, predictability and commercial survival. That is a dangerous balance for any port regime to lose.
For now, the demand from the port-side coalition is clear: suspend the system, review the valuation and appeals framework, and restore confidence before disruptions harden into a full-blown trade shutdown.
