The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced that 39,256 jerrycans of vegetable cooking oil confiscated in an attempted transit diversion case will be handed over to the National School Feeding Programme following the conclusion of investigations into the matter.
The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, who announced this at a media briefing in Accra yesterday, said the decision was taken under the directive of the Ministry of Finance after investigations confirmed widespread irregularities surrounding the consignment.
He said the authority had also affirmed the confiscation of the goods, which were intercepted in February this year during a joint operation involving the Customs Division of the GRA and National Security.
Mr Sarpong explained that the trucks had been declared as transit cargo from Togo through Ghana to Niger, but investigations established that the trade documents supporting the declaration were falsified.
Key findings, irregularities
Mr Sarpong further explained that the authentic export documents obtained from Togolese Customs showed the cargo had originated from Malaysia and Indonesia, arrived at the Port of Lomé and was actually destined for two companies in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and not Niger as declared to Ghanaian authorities.
He said the declaration processed at the Akanu border post relied on an invoice which falsely claimed the goods had been purchased on the open market in Togo instead of the original shipping documents.
The Commissioner-General said a physical examination of the cargo further uncovered significant discrepancies in the declarations.
He explained that Customs officers counted 39,256 jerrycans of vegetable cooking oil instead of the 35,246 declared, representing an under-declaration of 4,010 units.
He added that goods declared as tomato paste were also found to be tomato flavour seasoning, while the cooking oil had been wrongly classified under a lower-duty tariff code, resulting in a substantial understatement of the required transit bond.
“The cooking oil was classified under HS code 1517.90.90:00 (20 per cent duty) instead of the correct 1511.90.99.00 35 per cent duty), resulting in a significantly understated bond/guarantee value against suspended taxes,” he explained.
Mr Sarpong further disclosed that enquiries made through the Nigerien Chamber of Commerce could neither verify the Taxpayer Identification Number used for the consignee nor confirm that the named consignee, Adamou Moumouni, was a registered business person in Niger.
He also said investigators reviewed Customs records and identified 44 previous transit declarations linked to the same consignee over the past two years, with several transactions exhibiting similar irregularities, raising concerns that the intercepted consignment was not an isolated case.
Actions
“As part of our internal accountability processes, we have interdicted four officers who worked on the consignment and disciplinary proceedings are ongoing to ensure that anyone found culpable is dealt with in accordance with our internal policies and the law,” he stated.
The GRA boss assured the public that the Customs Division had strengthened compliance measures at the country’s borders to improve revenue mobilisation and prevent illicit trade.
He said the authority remained committed to safeguarding government revenue and ensuring that the country’s transit trade regime was not exploited through fraudulent declarations or diversion of goods onto the local market.
