GHANA

Cargo Tracking Note

The Republic of Ghana is country located in the sub-region of West Africa. It is bordered by 3 countries by BURKINA FASO to the North, IVORY COAST to the West and TOGO to the East.

Effective March 1, 2015 Ghana Shippers Authority under the authority of Regulations require “Advance Shipment Information” (ASHI) document, validated at the loading port, covering each Bill of Lading for maritime shipments arriving at the seaports of Ghana. The ASHI will be mandatory for all imports into Ghana effective Bill of Lading date 1st day of March 2015.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) / Ministry of Finance declared that as of 2018 all sea cargo arriving in their country must have an Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) or Cargo Tracking Notre (CTN).

Some shipping lines may not load cargo without the CTN number.

Importers whose imports, from records exceed 36 TEUs per year, will be required to obtain a CTN number in the country of export.

This means that any importer who imports less than 36 TEU containers or 18, 40-footer containers per year is exempted from CTN compliance.

Ports

Documents and Informations required

• Bill of Lading (Final B/L for validation)
• Commercial invoice: currency must be mentioned in $ or €.
• Freight invoice in the same currency (not needed in case the freight charges are mentioned on the commercial invoice)
• Export Customs document (optional)
• Harmonized (HS) Code (Multiple HS codes can be provided).

Additional information

• The CTN for Ghana must validate at the latest 5 days after the departure and/or 5 days before the vessel arrives at the destination.
• Once the draft CTN document is approved, you can submit it for pre-validation to get the CTN number.
• This CTN number must be transmitted to the shipping line and must be mentioned on the B/L.

Procedure

• Submit the required documents online or per email.
• You will be sent a draft for pre-validation and an invoice, typically within the same day.
• As soon as the invoice is paid, the applicant will receive a “Pre-Validation Agreement” with assigned CTN# to be added to your Bill of Lading.
• Send the updated Bill of Lading with the addition of CTN number to obtain final validation.
• Once your payment has been received and you approve the draft, validated certificate be sent.

ATTENTION: RESPECT THE TIMELINE

Timeline

• From the start of the application you have 5 calendar days to complete the application process.
• Providing all documents and completing the process within 5 days after start of the application, the application will be TIMED-OUT
• Once all documents are received, and draft is approved, the validation can be released within 24 to 48 hours.

Penalties

• Once application is timed out, shipment becomes subject to an Amendment Penalty.
• Failure to provide all required documents within the 5 days, the exporter will be liable to pay an Amendment Penalty.
• Shipment arriving without CTN for Ghana or false information in CTN results in a fine of an amount that is twice of the cost of the CTN, plus the regulation charge determined by Ghana Customs officials.