The Association of Ghana Industries has welcomed government’s decision to suspend its earlier decision to reverse the benchmark value for a broader consultations.
According to the Association, government should remain focused on the reversal of the benchmark value if its remains focus in industrialisation.
Read Also: Suspension of benchmark values step in right direction-Tobinco Boss
Government initially suspended the benchmark review reversal until Thursday, January 6, 2022.
Per the directive, the full value shall apply without any reduction for all other goods, where the importer has an invoice for which the value is higher or lower than the established Transaction Price Database.
The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), and the Vehicle and Asserts Union of Ghana have spoken against the policy directive and called on the administration to reverse the decision.
Addressing the press in Accra, President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mr Humphrey Ayim Darke indicated that, the benchmark value policy runs counter to government’s own industrialization agenda.
He argued that reversal of Benchmark policy by government doesn’t mean government is banning importation of goods into the county .
Mr Humphrey Ayim Darke indicated that arguments by some stakeholders claiming that local industries do not have the capacity to produce larger quantity to feed the country is untrue and argued that, local industries for the past years have been producing to feed the country and even exporting some to neighbouring countries.
He, however, added that unemployment rate in the country could rise if the local industries are ignored and the benchmark value is maintained on goods which could be locally manufactured in the country.
Read Also: Benchmark Values: Gov’t urged to create balance between manufacturing and import
Ghana| Atinkonline.com | Vincent Kwofie