The 10th General Assembly of the Union of African Shippers’ Council (UASC) has begun in Accra on Wednesday with a call on member countries to lead the role in articulating the benefits of trade facilitation.

Mr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industries, who made the call, said the balance of power between shippers and service providers in respect of rights and responsibilities has been lopsided in favour of the latter.

He said for most shippers in West and Central Africa, that unfortunate state of affairs could be attributed to their lack of bargaining power resulting from the small volumes of cargo they command, the numerous and highly fragmented Trade and Manufacturing Associations and the general lack f might and muscle to demand for high levels of service performance at competitive cost.

That, he said, deprived importers and exporters operating from the West and Central Africa sub-region the needed power to match the strength of supply side operators thus making them vulnerable to manipulation and control.

“It would be negligent on my part not to salute the gallant importers and exporters of the sub-region who have over the years ensured the sub-region’s participation in the global redistribution of resources. Your contribution to the shipping industry and the economic development of West and Central Africa cannot be overlooked,” he added.

The four-day meeting, being attended by all 18-member countries, would take stock of the activities of the union in the past two years and also plan for the future.

Mr Muhammed noted they are aware of the significant contribution of international trade to national economies; however as pertains to most developing nations, the gains that Africa should chalk from international trade are constantly eroded by unfavourable factors.

He cited the extreme volatility of primary commodity prices on the world market, high dependence of the export of limited range of raw commodities, low world share and declining terms of trade which invariably result in incessant trade deficit in the respective countries and decline of Africa’s role in world trade over the last four decades as some of the unfavourable factors.

He said he was pleased to note the efforts of the UASC in popularizing the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation in West and Central Africa.

The Deputy Minister said West and Central Africa could only benefit from the WTO Agreement on Trade facilitation when shippers, services providers as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies involved in international trade understand the rules and comply with its requirements so as to reduce the cost of doing business in the sub-region.

He therefore urged the union to collaborate with their National Trade Facilitation Agreement and also continue to assist shippers in the areas of transport operations in connection with export and import activities in line with Article 16 of the African Maritime Charter.

Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Deputy Minister of Transport, said Ghana government having come to terms with the predicaments of shippers has strengthened the legal muscles of the Ghana Shippers Authority by the passage of the Ghana Shippers Authority Regulation 2012 (LI 2190).

She said the LI provides for consultation between the Authority and shipping service providers who operate along the logistic chain in the transport industry in respect of international trade, as well as the negotiation of charges in relation to shipment and clearance of cargo from the ports, not to mention the minimum standards and quality of shipping services to be rendered to shippers.

“The law also furnishes the Authority with the appropriate legislative framework for information dissemination to shippers in Ghana through the use of advanced shipment information to facilitate speedy clearance of cargo at the ports.

“Altogether, the law represents a holistic approach to dealing with the challenges of the shipper and I am aware that the Ghana Shippers Authority has started implementing some of the provisions of the law while frantic efforts were being made to achieve full implementation of the law to promote and protect the interest of the shipper,” she added.

Dr Kofi Mbiah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Authority, said a number of emerging issues would take centre stage in the rapidly changing dynamics of the maritime trade and transport industry, in the coming years.

He said the new paradigm and the attending dynamics would require huge investments in ports and ports infrastructure; the world would see an unbridled determination to shift to cleaner fuels.

He stressed the need for the union to work their respective governments to transform infrastructure, remove the barriers to trade, give true meaning to a common market and build linkages to their territories for easy access to trade.

“It is only a robust infrastructure with the requisite connectivities that can boost the industrial expansion of the sub-region and thus generate employment for our teaming youth,” he said.

At the end of the meeting, Ghana would take over the Chairmanship for the next two years.