ELS: MBN360 NEWS
A private legal practitioner, Jonathan A. Alua, has invoked the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, challenging aspects of the regulations governing customs exemptions for passengers bringing personal effects into the country.
Mr Alua has sued the Attorney-General and the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) over Regulation 18(2)(b) of the Exemptions Regulations, 2025 (L.I. 2514).
The regulation provides that the Commissioner-General shall determine the quantity of baggage a passenger may bring into Ghana under the passenger baggage exemption regime.
The suit, filed under Articles 2(1)(b), 130(1) and 174 of the 1992 Constitution, seeks declarations that the exercise of that power amounts to the exercise of a power to waive or vary a tax in favour of individuals or entities.
According to the writ, the plaintiff argues that such a power is subject to the constitutional requirements under Article 174(2), which requires parliamentary approval for the waiver or variation of a tax.
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Mr Alua is also asking the Supreme Court to declare that Regulation 18(2)(b), to the extent that it authorises the Commissioner-General or officers of the Customs Division acting under his authority to grant or withhold exemptions to individual passengers on a case-by-case basis without prior parliamentary approval, is inconsistent with the Constitution.
He is consequently seeking an order restraining the Commissioner-General and Customs officers from exercising the disputed power under Regulation 18(2)(b) until the requirements of Article 174(2) have been complied with or Parliament has passed a resolution under Article 174(3).
The plaintiff is further asking the Court for any additional orders it considers appropriate to give effect to the declarations being sought, as well as costs.
The legal action comes amid public debate over the treatment of mobile phones and other personal effects carried into Ghana by air passengers.
Commissioner of Customs, Aaron Kanor, recently cautioned travellers against carrying multiple phones on behalf of other people, saying that bringing quantities beyond what could reasonably be considered personal effects could result in the items being treated as commercial imports.
The GRA has since clarified that carrying more than two phones does not automatically trigger customs duty.
