The Ghana International Trade Commission (GITC) bill 2014, when passed, will increase foreign direct investment into the country as well as protect local industries by generating revenue to boost the economy, Trade Minister Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has said.
Passage of the GITC bill into law, the minister said, will make the relevant World Trade Organisation Agreements and contingency trade protection measures part of the country’s legal system, which will enable Ghana to take advantage of available remedies.
“The key provisions of the bill are clauses 1-4, which will oversee the country’s compliance with the rules and regulations of international trade and protect the domestic market from the impact of unfair trade practices from the international as well as domestic market.”
The purpose of the bill, according to the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism’s report, is to establish the Ghana International Trade Commission as an independent, quasi-judicial government agency that will settle disputes between importers and Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority in respect of classification and valuation of imported products.
It will also gather data and conduct investigations in a number of areas: tariff investigations, anti-dumping investigations, and countervailing duty investigations.
The act is expected to help protect local industries, generate revenue through levies and duties, and promote and attract foreign investments.
It will also seek to re-enact with modifications the treaty rules relating to trade remedies within the context of existing laws, especially the constitution – as has been the approach by most World Organisation member-countries such as Singapore, India and South Africa.
The bill was presented before the legislature and read the second time last Friday, and outlined the process that will ensure the impasse between the Customs Division of Ghana Revenue Authority and importers is resolved.
The Commission will provide a new policy focus to create an agreeable atmosphere as a basis to resolving disputes.
The report of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism indicated that the bill, when passed, will accord the Commission two key roles: first, it will support the trade policymaking process by providing empirical evidence; second, it will also play an adjudicating role, especially in the settlement of disputes.
“The Commission has the power to make a determination on issues relating to anti-dumping and countervailing measures. However, on issues relating to tariff investigations and recommendations, and safeguard measures which might have serious policy implications, the Commission can only make recommendations to the minister,” the report stated.
The bill could be passed this week, barring any hitches when it is read for the third time.