The prices of goods and services have taken an upward trend in recent times due to the depreciation of the local currency against major trading currencies and the country's high inflation rate.

Though the inflation rate recorded in August this year dropped to 20.4 percent from 20.9 percent in July, Ghanaians are still experiencing hardship.

Speaking on this development with GhanaWeb's Ernestina Serwaa Asante, Chairman of the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) Tema District, Johnny Mantey, noted that illegitimate charges meted out on importers and freight forwarders by shipping lines are a contributory factor to the increasing cost of goods on the market.

He also cited unfair trade practices, including fees quoted in US dollars amidst the wobbling state of the cedi.

This, he said, was in violation of the Bank of Ghana's regulations on the pricing of locally derived services.

"The effect of these illegitimate charges, coupled with other unfair trade practices, is that the cost of importation has skyrocketed and become highly unpredictable, as these fees are quoted in US dollars in violation of the Bank of Ghana's regulations on the pricing of locally derived services (see NOTICE NO. BG/GOV/SEC/2022/04 from the central bank), invariably at rates even higher than the bank rates," he said.

The Tema District Chairman of GIFF, while speaking with GhanaWeb's Ernestina Serwaa Asante, said traders pass on these charges incurred at the port to customers for them to also heave a sigh of relief and stay in business.

"At the port of loading, the shipper pays freight, which is determined by pre-voyage estimations also known as voyage estimates. The shipping lines factor in all foreseeable costs from the port of loading to the destination port, and as such, it is extortive to demand additional charges before releasing the cargo," he said.

"Unsurprisingly, the trader has no option but to transfer these charges onto the price of the product, making goods needlessly expensive," he added.

Mantey further bemoaned that traders have run into debt due to the exorbitant charges imposed by shipping lines, and others have abandoned their cargo at the ports.

He opined that the government's objective to reduce the cost of doing business at the ports will remain a mirage if these arbitrary charges are allowed to prevail.

SA/MA