GUTA’s position on CTN has not change – Vice Chairman

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) says even though the implementation of the Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) system is expected to begin on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, it is yet to take a decision on the system.

GUTA said it has presented some proposals to the government on the Small and Medium Scale (SMEs) business on the implementation because such system will collapse those in SMEs.

Per the policy of Complete Compliance, vessels will not load containers without CTN numbers at the port of loading.

About seven associations in the shipping business on Monday, August 27, 2018, threatened to shut down their operations at the country’s ports in protest against the implementation of the CTN system.

The associations are the Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Association of Custom House Agents of Ghana (ACHAG), Freight Forwarders Association of Ghana, and the Custom Brokers Association of Ghana (CUBAG).

The rest are the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG) and the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana.

They threatened to embark on a three-day protest to force the government to suspend the new system policy of Complete Compliance which was expected to have taken off on September 1, 2018.

But President Akufo-Addo’s interventions compelled the Associations to halt the intended strike and demonstration for further deliberations before the implementation.

The implementers therefore shifted the commencement date to October 16, 2018.

Five days to the commencement of the implementation, GUTA says it is optimistic the government will look into their proposal on the SMEs before implementations.

Speaking in an interview with the PrimeNewsGhana, the National 2^nd Vice Chairman of GUTA, Charles Gyan said “GUTA has not decided on the CTN.

“Our position is on hold and our members should be calm because we have presented our proposals to the government and we are very optimistic the government will listen to us”, he explained.

Mr. Gyan said “traders should be calm for us to end the negotiations. For now, we don’t have a position. We have to fight for the interest of our constituents and that is what we are doing now”.

“We are optimistic to arrive at a decision on Monday before implementation”, he explained.

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