The Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) and the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Department (PPRSD) have intensified their collaboration to support the operations of shippers of agricultural produce.
The two organisations, who have in the past organised several stakeholder sensitisation fora to educate shippers of agricultural produce on the new developments in the sectors and ways to improve their operations, have committed to stepping up their efforts.
This came up when a team from the GSA paid a working visit to the PPRSD at Pokuase in Accra on 8th June, 2022. The visit forms part of the authority’s effort to keep constant touch with key stakeholders and come up with contemporary ways to serve the interest of shippers.
Head of Shipper Services and Trade Facilitation at the GSA, Mrs. Monica Josiah, said: “As part of our programmes for this year, we decided to visit the regulatory agencies that are in the shipping value chain to exchange ideas as to how to facilitate trade for importers and exporters”.
She used the opportunity to sensitise some new staff of the PPRSD on the GSA’s mandate, and reminded them of the collaborations that have happened in the past.
One of the issues that dominated the discussion was the payment of demurrage and other port charges. Mrs. Josiah used the occasion to reiterate that demurrage is avoidable, hence, the authority will continue its education to disabuse the minds of importers who believe that goods cannot be cleared within the seven (7) day free period.
On his part, the Acting Director of the PPRSD, Mr. Eric Bentsil Quaye, commended the GSA for its proactiveness in providing essential services to shippers, adding that his agency will intensify collaborations with the authority in a bid to improve activities in the sector.
He noted that innovative means are being developed to support the implementation of their core mandate which is to inspect and certify the import and export of all agricultural produce.
