The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) says it will broaden its investigations into the recent issue involving Labianca Limited over the much-talked-about “Customs Advance Ruling” for related cases which occurred between July 2017 and December 2021.
In a press statement on Monday, the OSP disclosed that it had directed on August 11th, 2022, the Commissioner of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to furnish the OSP, by September 30th, 2022, the details of “all applications for customs advance rulings, applications for markdown of benchmark values, applications for private rulings and class rulings pertaining to the applications of customs law and the decisions on each of the applications within the indicated period.”
The OSP also indicated in the statement that it directed the Commissioner of Customs to “submit an “Integrity Plan” designed with the aim of preventing the corruption of the exercise of discretion by officials of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, especially in respect of rendering of rulings, to assure the effective operation of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891) and the Revenue Admintration Act, 2016 (Act 915), on or before 31st December 2022.”
The OSP on August 8th, 2022, charged Labianca Limited, owned by Council of State member, Eunice Jacqueline Buah, Asomah-Hinneh, for corruption and influence peddling, resulting in the write down of customs tax liabilities amounting to GHC 1.07 million.
Labianca Limited had since settled the full amount following a directive by the OSP.
However, the Commissioner of Customs, Col. Kwadwo Damoah (Rtd.), in a workshop with a section of his officers, slammed the Special Prosecutors, Kissi Agyebeng, for not knowing anything about their operations, accusing the “small boy” SP of attempting to tarnish his image.
The Chamber of Freight and Trade has also criticized the OSP for having little understanding of how the customs advance ruling works.
The Chamber stated that both Labianca Limited and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority acted within the applicable law, namely the Customs Act 2015 (Act 891), which qualified Labianca Limited for “customs advance ruling” as per section 12 of the Act.
Furthermore, the chamber noted that “benchmarking” as is being used currently at the country’s ports is not the standard of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and lends itself to subjectivity and illegality, which, in their opinion, nullifies the charges on Labianca Limited.
The OSP opened an investigation into the matter after receiving a petition from one Frank Asare claiming tax payment deficiencies by Labianca Limited last year.
