The book
Open the export desk you already run — products, markets, and what is still waiting on papers.
Sign in to dashboardExport from Ghana with your eyes open.
Run the book you already have — consignments, agents, documents, and sailings. The official procedure sits underneath as a reference, not a lecture.
What a working exporter opens this site to do. Sign in if the book is yours. This desk does not file in ICUMS.
Open the export desk you already run — products, markets, and what is still waiting on papers.
Sign in to dashboardRaise a consignment on this desk before the cut-off is a hostage. This is not an ICUMS filing.
Sign in to new consignmentKeep the catalogue the house and the buyer will recognise — not a brochure list.
Sign in to productsName the corridors you already serve before you promise a new one.
Sign in to marketsWork the counterparties you already have. This desk does not invent a buyer network.
Sign in to buyersInvoice, packing list, transport document, bank papers, origin proof, and permits — in one place.
Sign in to documentsSee performance on your own history before you give the next box to the same house.
Sign in to analyticsControl questions. Jump to the reference only when the job needs it.
Some goods attract a Ghana charge; many do not. Destination duty is the buyer’s Customs. Nothing here replaces an official assessment.
Does this commodity and procedure attract a Ghana export duty today?
There is no single Ghana export duty rate. Confirm with your licensed agent and the assessment — if one is issued. We do not publish a payable figure here.
Is this Ghana’s bill, or the buyer’s Customs?
Duty and VAT at destination are another country’s assessment. Preference needs origin proof. This desk does not invent a Rotterdam or Lagos bill.
Is this a Customs assessment, or someone else’s invoice?
Letters of Commitment, terminal handling, and line charges are commercial or banking. They are not paid as a GRA tax bill.
A missed vessel is not a tariff problem. Cut-off, examination, and bank windows are different clocks.
These start from the shipping line or airline’s booking. After cut-off, the box misses the sailing. That is a commercial clock — not export duty.
After the declaration is validated, goods must be presented at the export seat. Time spent waiting for an examination is part of that clock.
A Letter of Commitment or a buyer’s letter of credit can expire while papers are incomplete. Ask your bank for the current validity. We do not publish a day count that can go stale.
GRA requires a licensed Customs House Agent to clear goods at the ports. When you appoint someone — new house or the one you already use — ask: “Will you file in ICUMS against my TIN?”
Sign in when you are ready to work the book. This page does not publish a public agent directory.
For a new hire, an exception, or the first Ghana job. If wording differs, the live GRA page wins.
Nine steps for the exporter of record. Your licensed agent files.
Hold company papers, a GEPA registration, and a TIN or Ghana Card PIN. If you export as a company, keep that file ready.
Be able to say what they are, whether they are traditional or non-traditional, and whether they are prohibited or need a permit.
COCOBOD, Ghana Standards Authority, plant health, FDA, and others must be in hand before the box is stuck at the port.
Invoice, packing list, Bill of Lading or air waybill, bank papers and Letter of Commitment when required, origin proof, and any permits.
GRA requires a licensed agent to clear goods at the ports. You stay the exporter of record.
All exports need a Customs declaration in ICUMS — even when no Ghana duty attaches. This website does not file that declaration.
After the declaration is validated, Customs examines the goods at the exit port or station. Free Zone movements follow a verification path, as GRA currently describes.
GRA currently describes release through an export scan to the vessel, or overland, or by post. We cannot predict which path your consignment will take.
Notify the importer of the consignment details. Forex, claims, and the destination entry come after the sailing — they are not finished at the gate.
Source: GRA Export Procedures and Customs FAQ.
Have these ready so delay does not start at Tema, Takoradi, or Kotoka. Papers on this site are not Customs accepted and not a GEPA certificate.
Open a topic. This is a reference, not a Customs ruling and not legal advice.
The TIN on the entry is yours — even when the house files.
Customs names the exporter of record. That is your GRA TIN or Ghana Card PIN, your company file, and your GEPA registration. This page does not issue those documents, and your agent does not become the exporter by filing.
Two doors GRA publishes; one declaration either way.
Ghana groups exports as traditional or non-traditional. The example lists on GRA’s own pages are not identical, and GRA says policy can change them. Ask your licensed agent which door your goods sit on. We do not invent the list.
When to stop, and when to get a permit.
Some goods may not be exported at all. Others need a licence or permit first. If you are unsure, read GRA’s Customs pages and ask your licensed agent before you stuff the container. A missing permit is not something this site can waive.
Build a file Customs will recognise.
GRA asks for registration (Registrar-General, GEPA, TIN or PIN) and, on the declaration, invoice, packing list, transport document, bank papers, origin proof when you claim preference, and permits. Uploading papers here does not mean Customs has accepted them.
Promotion and registration are not a Customs release.
The Ghana Export Promotion Authority registers exporting companies and works permit-issuing agencies on the non-traditional path. A GEPA certificate is not an ICUMS release and not a Certificate of Origin. This site does not issue the GEPA number.
Ask the bank; do not guess the form name.
GRA’s pages mention a Bank of Ghana foreign-exchange form and a Letter of Commitment from an authorised commercial bank, quoted on the declaration. Form labels change. Ask your bank and licensed agent what this entry needs. We do not invent a day count or a form code here.
Preference is earned with proof — not with a nickname.
If the buyer wants EU, AfCFTA, or other preferential treatment, someone competent must issue origin papers. This website does not issue a Certificate of Origin. The port the truck last called is not automatically the country of origin.
Follow the filing without being shut out of it.
ICUMS is Ghana’s customs system. Your licensed agent submits the export entry. All exports need a declaration, including goods with no Ghana duty. You present the goods at the export seat after validation. This website does not file that declaration.
Start the agency before the box is a hostage.
GRA publishes a commodity table: cocoa and some tree crops with COCOBOD; timber with Forestry; minerals with the Minerals Commission; manufactures with Ghana Standards Authority; farm produce with plant health; foods and medicines with FDA — and more. We cannot issue those permits. Destination countries add their own rules.
Separate Ghana, the destination, and commercial invoices.
There is no single Ghana export duty. Some goods attract a Ghana charge; many do not. Destination duty is the buyer’s Customs, not GRA’s tax bill. Port, line, and agent fees are commercial. A figure on this site is never a substitute for an official assessment.
Know which clock is costing you the order.
Cut-off is what the line publishes. Examination is what Customs does at the export seat. A Letter of Commitment or a buyer’s letter of credit can expire while papers are incomplete. Mixing those clocks is how a working book still misses the vessel.
Same law, different clocks.
Tema and Takoradi use a Bill of Lading and an export scan as GRA currently describes. Kotoka uses an air waybill and a shorter clock. Land borders and post are still a customs exit. Restricted goods stay restricted.
Incoterms do not replace Customs.
CIF or CIP does not skip the Ghana export entry, and it does not clear the goods into the destination country. If a contract says the seller delivers duty paid, someone licensed *there* still has to file. Cargo insurance is issued by a licensed insurer, not by this platform.
The one question that matters.
Ask: “Will you file in ICUMS in my name, against my TIN?” A licensed Customs House Agent is a regulated profession. A rating on this platform is useful; it is not the licence itself.
What to keep, and what is not finished.
Keep the declaration, bank papers, transport document, permits, and origin certificate. Forex repatriation and destination claims come after departure. Customs can still ask questions about a file after the sailing.
The buyer’s broker owns that entry.
Ghana release is not admission in Lagos, Rotterdam, or Atlanta. Destination duty, sanitary rules, and preference claims are handled by the buyer’s licensed broker. We do not invent a payable amount in another country.
Sea, air, land, and post all leave Ghana under the same customs law. The paperwork and the waiting time change.
The main commercial seaports. You will work with a Bill of Lading, port handling, and an export scan as GRA currently describes.
Air cargo uses an air waybill. The legal exit is the same; the clock is usually shorter.
Corridors such as Aflao, Elubo, Paga, and Hamile. The same customs law applies. Informal “fixing” is not a service of this site.
Still a customs exit. Restricted and prohibited lists still apply. A parcel is not treated like a 40-foot container, but it is not invisible to Customs.
Efua will later answer from this desk and the procedure reference, with sources. She will not invent a payable amount, a permit, or a buyer. For now, jump to the topic.