A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Communications Team, Ellen Ama Daaku, has called for clearer guidelines on the number of mobile phones travellers can bring into Ghana.
Her comments follow remarks by Commissioner of Customs Aaron Kanor that travellers arriving in Ghana with more than two mobile phones may be required to pay the applicable customs duties and taxes.
Kanor said passengers who bring in more than two phones, especially new devices in significant quantities, could have the items classified as commercial goods.
However, Daaku said Customs must clearly explain what it considers a personal effect.
“I want them to also define for us. What is personal effect? What do they consider as personal effect and what do they consider that this one is beyond personal effect?” she asked.
She said people may legitimately travel with more than two phones for personal and family reasons.
Daaku explained that she personally has multiple phones, including one specifically used for family matters.
“I have a phone specifically for family, my children. They have an emergency number. When it rings, I’ll pick it. So I carry it everywhere I go,” she said.
She therefore questioned whether such a phone would attract customs duties simply because it was the third phone in a traveller’s possession.
“So it means if I travel and I’m coming back into Ghana with all these three phones, you charge, you have to pay for the third one,” she said.
Daaku said Customs must provide clear guidelines to prevent disagreements at the airport.
She also pointed out that a traveller may bring a new phone for a child, relative or friend without intending to sell it.
“If it’s a phone for my children, myself?” she asked.
She said the rules should clearly explain how Customs officers would distinguish between phones brought for personal or family use and those being imported for commercial purposes.
“If you just put it in personal effects, your definition of personal effect might be very different from my definition of personal effect,” she said.
Daaku warned that unclear rules could cause delays and disputes at Ghana’s entry points.
“They have to be clear on certain guidelines so that everybody understands themselves,” she said.
