The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers Council (GSC ), Mr Kofi Mbiah, on Thursday reiterated the need for importers and exporters in the country to engage reputable clearing and forwarding agents in their businesses to help safeguard the shipping industry.
He pointed out that the present world economic order presented shippers with international transport challenges engendered by globalization and liberalization, and that there was therefore the need for a review of the modus operandi for assisting shippers and facilitating their import and export transactions
Mr Mbiah made the call at the formal inauguration of the Central Regional Shipper Committee in Cape Coast.
This brings to seven the number of such committees so far inaugurated in the country, leaving the committees in the Volta, Eastern and Upper West Regions to be inaugurated.
The nine-member regional executive committee has Mr Kwame Tenadu SNR, as its chairman.
Mr Mbiah said the Council, will collaborate with various freight- forwarder associations to come out with a list of their members in good standing whom shippers may safely deal with.
Mr Mbiah said the advent of multimodal transport necessitates that shipper organisations provide assistance to importers and exporters beyond the port and ship interface, regardless of the mode of transport, adding that the "times when shipper organizations restricted their activities to marine commercial cargoes, now belongs to history and has been relegated to archaic operations".
He noted that the existence of the shippers committees in the regions have therefore enabled them to focus on problems, characteristic of their locations and particular trades, thereby affording the Council the opportunity of providing them with resources and expertise, which would otherwise not have been available to them.
He said the Council's efforts could therefore not have been better placed at the disposal of shippers in any other way than by assisting shippers not only at the seaports but also at the land and air borders, and observed that a recent decision of a high court in the case of Allship Logistics versus the GSC, "confirms and establishes the mandate" of the Council to protect importers and exporters and must be hailed.
Mr Mbiah enumerated measures and facilities put in place to assist shippers in the country ,such as the establishment of a shippers complaints and support units at Takoradi and Elubo, and was working on establishing similar units at the Kotoka International Airport, Aflao and Paga.
In an address read for him, the Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, was not happy that the committee was now being inaugurated in the region, which he described as the cradle of the nation's development, although the GSC was formed in 1974.
He also underscored the importance of information technology in the global world, and observed that a well informed exporter or importer would always have a competitive edge, and was happy that the benefits that come with the shippers committee, was education and the timely dissemination of information on shipping and shipping related matters.
The Minister therefore urged all businesses in the region engaged in import and export, to join the committee since they stood the chance of enormously boosting their businesses for the betterment of the region and the country as a whole.
On the provision of facilities to shippers, the minister appealed to the GSC to consider the construction of a rest-stop in the region to cater for truckers plying the Western Corridor, as well as warehouses and internet cafes for use of businesses in the region to act as catalysts in making them more vibrant.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mr Salathiel Doe Amegavie, who presided, urged members of the committee to show commitment and to network to facilitate the effective resolution of problems associated with their businesses.
He expressed the hope that the formal inauguration of the committee will result in the vast transformation of their activities, and noted that the linkages between the GNCCI and the GSC should be properly harnessed for their mutual benefits and that of the country as a whole.
He charged the nine-member executive committee in the region to discharge their duties transparently.