The Minister for Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, has ordered an immediate ban on the land transit of nine categories of essential goods into Ghana as part of efforts to reduce revenue leakages and strengthen border controls.
The directive was issued after an emergency meeting with the Acting Commissioner of Customs, Aaron Akanor, and the leadership of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Under the new policy, certain products can no longer enter Ghana through land borders and must instead pass through the country’s seaports.
The affected items include food staples such as rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil, pasta and canned tomatoes. Other products covered by the directive include frozen goods, textiles and pharmaceutical products.
The decision follows an earlier ban on the land transit of commercial quantities of cooking oil introduced in February after officials from the Ministry of Finance Ghana visited border areas in the Ketu South Municipality and Ketu North District.
According to Dr Forson, routing these imports through seaports will reduce weaknesses in land-based transit systems and ensure that all applicable duties and taxes are properly collected.
As part of the reforms, the minister has also ordered the recentralisation of the Customs Technical Services Bureau (CTSB) to create a single system for cargo valuation.
The new approach will also rely on improved intelligence-sharing using the Publican AI system to identify high-risk shipments and prevent tax evasion.
Dr Forson said the measures are intended to strengthen border management, close revenue leakages and protect government revenue.
The Ghana Revenue Authority has been directed to enforce the policy immediately, a move expected to change how importers, clearing agents and transport operators route goods into the country.
