The Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF) is urging the government to take a closer look at the shipping lines operating in Ghana and the exorbitant fees they charge importers and exporters.

According to the freight forwarders who are in charge of the import and export of goods, the unreasonably high fees of shipping lines were increasing their cost of doing business.

The institute last year in September threatened to embark on a strike over the situation, which has seen shipping lines charge fees including container deposits, exchange rate differentials, and administrative fees, among others.

In an interview with Citi Business News, the Chairman of the Tema Chapter of GIFF, Johnny Mantey said they would bring the matter up when discussions on the reversal of the discounts on benchmark values begin.

He said “The shipping lines are ripping people off like nobody’s business. On holidays and weekends, they are still charging people.”

“The kind of money the shipping lines are making in this town is obscene and needs to be looked at by the government. If the government looks at the shipping lines alone, we will end up reducing our tariffs at the ports. With everything that is going on with the stalemate when it comes to the benchmark discount reversal, people are worried about their demurrage fees,” he said.