President John Dramani Mahama has spoken against the unfair penalty meted out to businesses at the port due to challenges with the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS).

Engaging the leadership of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) on Friday, July 11, the president noted that his attention had been drawn to this anomaly.

He stated that measures must be taken to enusre importers do not bear the brunt of challenges they are not responsible for.

"We get frequent complaints that for the whole day, the system is down, and yet, despite the system failure, they are waiting to charge you demurrage," he said.

"There must be a way of stopping the clock when ICUMS is down so people are not unfairly penalised," he added.

The president also spoke against charging for each container when the processing is done once on a single document.

"I asked around, and they don’t do that in Lomé or any other port—only in Ghana," he shared.

President Mahama intimated that the growth and progress of the government's 24-hour economy policy "is dependent on fast, efficient operations at the ports of entry—airports, land borders, and especially the seaports."

Over the years, the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) has received numerous complaints from shippers regarding demurrage fees imposed by shipping lines and other charges by certain terminal operators, even when delays are not the fault of the shippers themselves.

In 2018, the GSA launched the seminar series "Avoiding Demurrage and Rent" to address this issue.

To promote accountability within the shipping and logistics sector, the GSA took steps to establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with Shipping Service Providers on behalf of shippers.

These agreements were to delineate the responsibilities of shipping service providers to shippers, streamline port clearance processes, clarify time-related shipping costs, provide guidance on cost-saving strategies, and define the role of the GSA in this context.

However, the challenges persist.