The Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA) has announced that importers who were wrongly charged shipping surcharges linked to tensions in the Middle East will receive full refunds following an internal investigation.
Chief Executive Officer Ransford Gyampo said on Wednesday, March 11, that the disputed charges were caused by an automated global billing system used by shipping line CMA CGM, which mistakenly applied a War Clause Surcharge.
According to him, the surcharge was introduced globally after an announcement instructing CMA CGM shipping agencies to activate the war clause in response to security concerns in the Middle East. However, the company’s shared global invoicing system automatically generated the disputed charges, leading to the billing error.
Gyampo explained that the anomaly has been identified and is currently being corrected. He assured that all affected importers will be fully reimbursed by the shipping line.
The investigation was launched after several importers complained about unexpected surcharges on shipments that had been dispatched weeks before the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, prompting concerns about unfair billing.