Ignore ‘compulsory’ local marine insurance directive by NIC – IEAG to members

Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG), Samson Awingobit, has urged members of the Association to ignore a directive by the National Insurance Commission (NIC) to have a local marine insurance policy for their imports.

The regulator a few days ago, announced the implementation and commencement of a compulsory local marine insurance policy for all importers.

According to the NIC, without the local marine insurance policy, all commercial shipments into the country by imported will not be cleared from the ports.

Per the regulator, the directive takes effect September 1, 2022.

But in statement issued by the IEAG, the Association argues that per maritime trading rules, the onus of marine insurance lies on the supplier of goods or cargo being transported to a local receiver or importer in the country and not the other way round.

Adding that, in some instances, some marine shipments cleared at the ports come with cargo freight insurance value (CIF) indicating that the cargo or goods have already been insured by the supplier.

“So in which context do the local receiver or importer insures it again,” quizzed the IEAG.

The IEAG in the statement accused the NIC of riding on the Insurance Act of 2021 (Acts 1016) to make money at the expense of the ordinary importer, an act of insensitivity towards the struggling business community.

The Association further expressed dismay at the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Ghana Insurance Commission (GIC) for championing the policy by the NIC.