The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) has called on President John Dramani Mahama to immediately suspend the Ghana Standards Authority’s (GSA) proposed Ghana EasyPASS Programme, warning that its implementation will increase the cost of doing business and ultimately drive-up consumer prices.
In a statement issued on Monday July 6, 2026, the association argued that the mandatory pre-export conformity verification system would place additional financial and administrative burdens on importers at a time when businesses are already facing significant economic pressures.
The Ghana EasyPASS Programme requires selected imported goods to undergo inspection, testing and certification in their country of origin before shipment to Ghana to ensure compliance with national standards and technical regulations.
However, FABAG maintains that Ghana already has sufficient regulatory institutions responsible for product quality assurance and import inspections, making the new programme unnecessary.
“Mr. President, stop the Ghana Standards Authority’s (GSA) Ghana EasyPASS Conformity Programme before it hurts businesses and consumers,” the association appealed.
According to FABAG, the proposed conformity assessment effectively introduces an additional cost for importers without providing significant regulatory benefits.
“This policy is simply adding another tax by another name,” the association stated.
FABAG pointed to existing agencies including the Ghana Standards Authority, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) as institutions already mandated to conduct inspections, quality assurance and compliance checks on imported products.
Instead of creating another layer of certification, the association urged government to strengthen the operational capacity of these agencies to improve enforcement and efficiency.
The association warned that the EasyPASS Programme would require importers to pay additional conformity assessment fees, comply with new administrative procedures and potentially face shipment delays before goods are exported to Ghana.
It said these added costs would inevitably be transferred to consumers through higher retail prices, worsening the country’s cost-of-living challenges.
FABAG further noted that businesses continue to recover from recent economic difficulties while contending with rising electricity and water tariffs, high lending rates, exchange rate volatility, expensive credit and increasing transportation costs.
The association also argued that reintroducing a conformity verification programme previously opposed by the private sector sends the wrong signal to investors and undermines government’s efforts to improve the business environment.
“Government cannot genuinely speak about improving the ease of doing business while simultaneously introducing measures that make doing business more expensive,” FABAG said.
The association is therefore urging President Mahama to direct the Ghana Standards Authority to suspend implementation of the programme and initiate broader stakeholder consultations with the private sector before proceeding.
FABAG also called on business associations, importers, manufacturers and chambers of commerce to unite in opposing policies they believe unnecessarily increase the cost of doing business.
“The time has come for government to listen to the voice of businesses. Ghana needs policies that encourage enterprise, not policies that punish it,” the statement concluded.
CREDIT: MAVIS FANTEVI