Question Tag: Customs Administration

The “Benchmark Value Discount” Policy was introduced in April 2019 by the government to make the Ghanaian ports competitive, reduce smuggling, and increase government’s revenue from the port. Under this policy, certain commodities are benchmarked to the prevailing world prices as a risk management tool, reflecting the true market dynamics of these commodities. It also takes into consideration factors such as the protection of health, the environment, and security, as well as the protection of local industries. The policy provided a discount of 50% on the delivery or benchmark values of imports, except for vehicles, for which the delivery values were reduced by 30%.

The government, however, suspended moves to remove the discount policy to allow for extensive stakeholder engagement on its viability and impact on both government revenue and the domestic manufacturing industry. After consultations, the government revised the policy, reducing the discount on the delivery values of imports to 30% for goods (from 50%) and to 10% for vehicles (from 30%).

A withdrawal of the Benchmark Discount on imported rice means that importers of rice will pay a higher amount of duty on their imports than they did under the benchmark discount regime. This will make imported rice more expensive relative to local rice, assuming all other factors are equal. As a result, price-sensitive consumers are likely to switch from imported to local rice, providing local rice producers greater access to the domestic market and enabling them to sell more and generate income.

Thus, the withdrawal of the policy benefits the President of the Professional Local Rice Growers Association (PLRGA) in the following ways:

1. It will make local production more competitive with imported products.
2. It will increase demand for local production.
3. It will increase local production for rice growers and generate employment.