The government has announced a nationwide ban on the transit of commercial quantities of cooking oil through Ghana’s land borders, directing that all such consignments must be routed exclusively through the country’s seaports.
The directive was issued by the Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, following the interception of eighteen articulated trucks declared for transit to Niger but suspected to be part of a wider transit diversion scheme.
Under the new policy, consignments of cooking oil entering Ghana for onward transit to landlocked countries will no longer be permitted to move through land border collection points.
Instead, all affected cargo must be processed exclusively through Ghana’s seaports, where stricter valuation systems, electronic tracking, scanning infrastructure, and layered customs controls are operational.
The decision followed recent inspection visits by the Minister of Finance, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, George Kwasi Sarpong, and other senior customs officials.
The team visited key land borders in the Ketu South Municipality and the Ketu North District as part of efforts to close weaknesses within the transit regime.
In addition to the ban on land transit of cooking oil in commercial quantities, the Minister of Finance has directed the Ghana Revenue Authority to introduce enhanced monitoring and strict compliance enforcement for all transactions originating from land collection points.
