Ghana’s frozen food importers have threatened industrial action and a boycott of non-compliant shipping lines, accusing operators of defying a regulatory cap on container fees despite a High Court ruling backing the directive.

In a press statement issued on 27 July, the Exim Frozen Foods Association of Ghana said shipping lines were still charging Container Administrative Fees far in excess of the GHC720 per Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit approved by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority in May.

The GSA directive followed months of stakeholder consultation and was aimed at reducing the cost of doing business. But the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana and 17 others challenged it in court.

On 10 July, the High Court dismissed their application for an injunction, ruling the GSA directive was valid, operational and fully enforceable.

EFFAG said the continued overcharging was “no longer a matter of commercial disagreement” but “a direct and calculated act of disrespect against a lawful regulatory directive and a court of competent jurisdiction.”

The association, whose members import time-sensitive frozen foods, warned that excess charges layered on top of demurrage were threatening the viability of businesses and would ultimately drive up food prices in Ghana.

“We therefore urge every trader to remit strictly no more than GHS 720 per TEU,” EFFAG said, and called on freight forwarders to honour the cap. It advised traders to retain invoices to pursue refunds for excess amounts paid.

EFFAG listed four demands: immediate compliance by shipping lines, full refunds to affected importers, firm sanctions including the publication of defaulting lines by the GSA, and public backing from the Ministry of Transport.

The group warned that if decisive enforcement action was not taken, it would escalate with “industrial action, a coordinated boycott of non-compliant shipping lines, mass public mobilisation… and recourse to further legal action.”

“The High Court has spoken. The law is clear. We will enforce it,” the statement said, signed by EFFAG and contact person Michael Obiri-Adjiei.