Govt refuses calls to pay back Ghana banana tariffs
Despite pressure there are no plans to reimburse suppliers for unsustainable post-Brexit tariffs of £95 per tonne on Ghanaian bananas The UK accounts for around 40 per cent of Ghana s banana exports
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The UK government has said it does not plan to waive the extortionate post-Brexit tariffs paid on imports of bananas from Ghana amid calls for producers to be recompensed.
In the absence of a free trade agreement, Ghana was moved onto standard Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) terms at the end of the Brexit transition period. Bananas have faced the highest tariff of £95 per tonne.
Post Brexit trade deal with Ghana almost done but tariffs have already hit banana imports
Further to our report in November last year about the threat of Brexit to imports of bananas from Ghana, the UK and Ghanaian government announced on Tuesday this week that they have “reached a consensus on the main elements of a new trade agreement. This provides the basis to replicate, the effects of the existing trade relationship between the UK and Ghana”. The statement goes on to say “We intend over the next few weeks to finalise the text of the Agreement”.
This is welcome news for the many thousands of plantation workers whose livelihoods depended upon continued tariff free entry of Ghanaian bananas into UK markets. However, due to the delay in the respective governments reaching a deal in principle shipments of Ghanaian bananas arriving in UK ports this week have faced import tariffs.
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The items include 185 metric tonnes of bananas, the majority of which were so-called Fairtrade.
Because Britain and the European Union reached a trade deal so close to the divorce transition deadline of December 31, some other “continuity” deals those intended to roll over the terms of trade the U.K. enjoyed as a member of the EU still hang in the balance. Agreements with Albania, Algeria and Serbia are also outstanding.
While they wait, their exports face Britain’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences, which applies import duties at reduced rates on developing countries.