Import Barriers, Poor IP Protection Mar Ghana Trade Policy Review
The U.S. is concerned that the Ghanaian adoption of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tariff model will ramp up tariffs on seven World Trade Organization (WTO) tariff categories, said WTO Attaché Neil Beck on May 26 at the WTO Trade Policy Review of Ghana. The country’s accession into the ECOWAS model should instead enable Ghana to lower tariffs, according to Beck.
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Ghana has also adopted a number of other impediments to trade, Beck said. "Ghana also appears to maintain a long list of products that require licenses prior to and as a condition of importation,” he added. “The government seems to be blocking imports of certain agricultural products, including poultry and rice, through the use of import licenses and quotas.” But Ghana remains a significant U.S. trade partner. U.S. firms imported $34.7 million dollars worth of duty-free Ghanaian imports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences in 2013.
The country continues to be a poor environment for intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, said Beck. “There is little government-initiated enforcement. Ghana’s Copyright Office periodically has initiated raids in pursuit of pirated works, and Ghana’s Customs Service has collaborated with concerned companies to inspect import shipments,” Beck said. “We urge the Ghanaian government to continue to strengthen its protection and enforcement of IPR.”