A lawyer has asked Ghana’s Supreme Court to strike down a rule that allows the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority to decide how much passenger baggage qualifies for duty-free entry.
Jonathan A. Alua filed the action on 4 September against the Attorney-General and the GRA Commissioner-General. It challenges Regulation 18(2)(b) of the Exemptions Regulations, 2025, known as L.I. 2514.
The regulation says the Commissioner-General shall determine the quantity of baggage for a passenger.
The Exemptions Act, 2022 already exempts baggage accompanying a passenger entering Ghana, provided the goods are not for sale, barter, exchange or as a gift. It also requires the Minister to make regulations setting the permissible quantities and kinds of imports covered by that exemption.
L.I. 2514 lists the categories of goods that can qualify, but leaves the quantity for each passenger to the Commissioner-General.
What the case argues
Alua says that power goes beyond ordinary administration of the exemption.
Article 174 of the Constitution says taxes must be imposed by or under the authority of an Act of Parliament. It also requires prior parliamentary approval when a statutory power is used to waive or vary a tax in favour of a person or authority, unless Parliament has exempted that exercise by the required resolution.
According to reports based on the writ, Alua argues that deciding a passenger’s exempt quantity case by case can change that person’s tax liability and should therefore be subject to Article 174.
He is asking the Supreme Court to declare Regulation 18(2)(b) unconstitutional and to restrain its use until the constitutional requirements are met.
The court has not ruled on the argument. No interim order suspending Regulation 18 had been reported as of 4 September, and no substantive response from the Attorney-General had been reported.
Why mobile phones are part of the dispute
The case comes amid controversy over how Customs treats travellers carrying several mobile phones.
GRA has said there is no automatic rule that makes a third phone dutiable. Officers are expected to consider the circumstances, including whether the devices are already in use, whether they are new and commercially packaged, how many similar items are being carried and whether they appear to be intended for sale or distribution.
GRA’s published passenger guidance also distinguishes personal effects from goods brought in for trade. It advises travellers who are unsure about an item’s status to declare it and seek guidance from Customs.
For now, that remains the position at the border. The Supreme Court case will decide whether the power to set an individual passenger’s exempt quantity can continue to rest with the Commissioner-General under the current regulation.