The Minority in Parliament has once again revealed some questionable activities of the Nana Akufo-Addo-led administration. According to them, the government is seeking to lay before the house a Legislative Instrument (L.I) that would introduce a license for the importation of certain essential goods.
The leader of the group, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, stated at a press conference in Accra that the Legislative Instrument (Export and Import Restriction on Imposition of Selected Strategic Products Regulation 2023), when passed, would give the Minister of Trade and Industry the sole prerogative to grant licenses to any person willing to import selected products into the country.
Mr. Forson explained that “the NDC is not against any legal regime or policy that seeks to protect indigenous businesses by regulating imports.”
He added, “What we are vehemently opposed to is a law that seeks to confer unfettered discretionary powers on a single individual, in this case, the Minister of Trade and Industry, to issue import licenses and restrict the quantity of certain imports into the country without any checks and balances.”
The former Minister of Finance expressed the opinion that the L.I., when passed, could create a platform for corruption, adding that ‘it can easily be abused to create a monopoly for a few individuals.’
Mr. Forson further observed that the proposed L.I. would “grant unchecked discretionary power to the Minister of Trade and Industry to solely determine whether or not to issue an import license to a person and to restrict the quantity of certain imports into the country as he sees fit.”
He explained that “the proposed regulation seeks to impose both an application fee and a license renewal fee on prospective importers,” which, according to him, would collapse businesses that are already overburdened with taxes.
Some products likely to be affected by the proposed L.I. are motor cars, soap, canned tomatoes, rice, poultry, oil, and fruit juice.