RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/G/194 
17 December 2007  
 
(07-5565) 
Trade Policy Review Body Original:  English 
   
 
  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
 
Report by 
 
GHANA 
 
  
 
Pursuant to the Agreement Establishi ng the Trade Policy Review Mechanism 
(Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade 
Organization), the policy statement by Ghana is attached. 
 
 
Note: This report is subject to restricted circ ulation and press embargo until the end of the first 
session of the meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body on Ghana. Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
 Page 3 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
Page 
I. MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 5 
 (1) F ISCAL POLICY  5 
 (2) M ONETARY POLICY  5 
 (3) I NFLATION DEVELOPMENTS  6 
 (4) I NTEREST RATE DEVELOPMENTS  6 
 (5) E XCHANGE RATE DEVELOPMENTS  7 
 (6) E XTERNAL SECTOR POLICY  7 
 (7) E XTERNAL DEBT AND HIPC 7 
II. GHANA'S TRADE POLICY FRAMEWORK 9 
III. THE TRADE SECTOR SUPPORT PROGRAMME 10 
IV. GHANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS 11 
 (1) T HE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM  11 
V. REGIONAL INTEGRATION 12 
 (1) E CONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) 12 
 (2) E CONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA)  WITH THE EU 13 
VI. BILATERAL TRADE 13 
VII. TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 14 
 Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
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 I. MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 
1. Ghana's macroeconomic stabilization programme initiated in  2001 by the current Government 
has so far brought about progress in stabilizing th e economy. Policy reform has been extensive, 
despite structural and institutional constraints. The benefits of the stabilization programme have been 
large, visible, and widely shared. The results ar e all the more remarkable given the chaotic initial 
conditions and the extent of external shocks sustai ned at the time of assuming the management of the 
economy.  2. The prudent fiscal, monetary, and internati onal trade policy measures pursued largely 
succeeded in stemming the slide in the economy. The fiscal measures focused on a more effective 
revenue mobilization, reduction in fiscal deficits, a nd conversion of short-term  debt into long-term 
instruments. Monetary policy focused on effec tive monetary management  to ensure low and 
competitive interest rates, single-digit inflation, stable exchange rates, reasonable spread between 
lending and savings rates, and the establishment of  long-term capital market. International trade 
measures focused on mechanisms to diversify exports and enhance productivity to ensure 
international competitiveness to achieve a su stainable level of foreign reserves.  
(1) F
ISCAL POLICY  
3. The declaration of a 'Golden Age of Business' by the government saw the implementation of 
corrective policies aimed at ensuring the growth and development of the economy. Fiscal measures since 2001 were aimed at achieving domestic primary surplus (above 4.0 per cent of GDP).  This was 
to minimise the government's domestic borrowing re quirement in order to reduce interest rates as well 
as halt the crowding out of the private sector from th e credit market. The initial focus of the fiscal 
policy was on resource mobilisation. Revenue (incl uding grants) as a percentage of GDP rose from 
21.02 per cent in 2000 to 29.9 per cent in 2004 but declined to about 27.8 per cent in 2006.   
4. This impressive outcome was occasioned by the restructuring of the tax policies that 
emphasized on broadening the tax b ase and lowering rates. Tax collection efforts were strengthened 
while compliance improved. Revenue collecting agen cies (Internal Revenue Service, Customs Excise 
& Preventive Service and VAT Service) were acco rdingly reorganised. The resultant increase in the 
country's revenue position led to the narrowing of the fiscal imbalance and a rise in the level of poverty alleviation expenditures notably in the areas of education and health. 
5. On the other hand total government expenditure  as a percentage of GDP rose from   27.7 per 
cent in 2000 to 33.8 per cent in 2004 but fell to 30.8 per cent in 2005 and went up again to 33.8 per 
cent in 2006. The higher expenditures in recent times were mainly due to unanticipated transfers to 
the Volta River Authority as a result of the energy crisis and higher wage demands.    
(2) M
ONETARY POLICY  
6. The focus of monetary policy since the year 2001 is on achieving price and exchange rate 
stability as key elements in creating the environm ent conducive to the achievement of sustainable 
economic growth. 
7. To strengthen the central bank in the conduct of monetary policy, parliament passed into law 
a Bank of Ghana Act at the end of 2001.  This Act gives operational independence to the Bank of 
Ghana.  This historic new Bank of Ghana Ac t, Act 612, specifies among other provisions that: WT/TPR/G/194 Trade Policy Review 
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− the primary objective of the Bank is to maintain  price stability “independent of instructions 
from Government or any other authority”.  Th is has refocused the central bank on the major 
task of inflation control and away from the developmental activities, which characterized the 
Bank's operations in the past. 
− a Monetary Policy Committee was established wi th responsibility for formulating monetary 
policy, which should bring transparency to the central bank's operations and its 
communications with the public. 
− government borrowing from the central bank in any year shall be limited to 10 per cent of its 
revenue, which ties the hands of government a nd the central bank in a way that is much 
stricter than the zero percent ceiling, which prevails in the CFA zone countries, for example. 
8. The new statutory mandate of the central bank is firmly rooted in a resurgence of public 
interest in economic policy and a heightened av ersion for inflation and awareness of how much 
stability contributes to raising the standard of livin g of its people.  The prevailing concern is that 
instability and weaknesses in the regulatory frame work have accounted for the poor performance of 
the private sector. 
9. Towards this end the Bank of Ghana maintained  the pace in the active pursuit of open market 
operations and repurchase agreements.  The Bank of Ghana also reviewed its interest rate policy and 
restored the signalling role of the rediscount ra te. In the early part of 2002, the Central Bank 
introduced the Prime Rate as an instrument to si gnal the Bank's assessment of inflationary pressures 
and therefore, monetary policy stance.   
10. Monetary developments in the last quarter of each year have been dominated by large 
injection of liquidity on account of the foreign ex change inflows from cocoa loan disbursements and 
strong private sector credit growth.  Consequently r eserve money has recorded higher growth rates at 
this time of the year but declines to lower leve ls in the first and second quarters of the year.  
11. Broad money supply including foreign currency deposits (M2+) increased from 14.3 per cent 
in 2005 to 38.8 per cent in 2006. This development was underpinned by strong growth in savings and 
time deposits (47.5 %) and demand deposits (43.7%) during the period. The increase in M2+ resulted 
from the expansion in net foreign assets (NFA) of th e banking system and net domestic assets (NDA).  
(3) INFLATION DEVELOPMENTS  
12. Prudential fiscal management and the tight mone tary policy stance in the management of the 
economy initiated in 2001 continued in the s ubsequent years. The measures led to a  deceleration in 
headline inflation, measured as the year-on-year ch anges in the consumer price index, falling from 
40.5 per cent at the end of 2000 to 10.5 per cent at the end of 2006.  
13. Several distinct but mutually reinforcing domestic  and external influences have been at work 
in bringing about the reduction in the year-on year  inflation rate.  Government moved away from 
Central Bank financing of its deficit and resorted more  to non-bank financing. In addition, the relative 
stability of the cedi and the good harvest of food crops  contributed to the falling trend in inflation.  
(4) INTEREST RATE DEVELOPMENTS  
14. One notable development during the past six year s is the decline in nominal interest rates, 
which was generally in line with the decline in in flation and inflationary expectations. The average Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
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 interest rate on the 91- day Treasury bill has stead ily declined from 42.0 per cent in December 2000 to 
10.7 per cent in December 2006.  
(5) EXCHANGE RATE DEVELOPMENTS  
15. The exchange rate policy was one of the most significant and successful policy measures of 
the current Government's macroeconomic stab ilization programme, which was started in 2001. 
Developments in the foreign exchange market were  supported by the Government's fiscal discipline. 
Within the first year of the stabilisation progra mme, the official exchange rate of the cedi was 
stabilized both in nominal and real terms against al most all the major currencies in the inter-bank and 
the forex bureau markets. This was in contrast  with the developments in 2000 when the cedi 
depreciated sharply and continuously against the major currencies (The cedi depreciated by 49.8 on 
annual basis against the US dollar). The cedi has remained relatively stable against the major 
international currencies despite the global imbalanc es and instability created by high crude oil prices 
in recent times. The cedi depreciated by about 1. 1 per cent against the US dollar in 2006 compared 
with a depreciation of 0.9 per cent in 2005. The r easons for the stability of the cedi exchange rate 
include the increased confidence of Ghanaian s in prudential policies of the government. 
(6) EXTERNAL SECTOR POLICY  
16. Against the background of the deteriorating ex ternal payments position of the country, as a 
result of the terms of trade shock in 2000, (depre ssed prices of main exports, in that year), the 
country's external reserves dwindled to less than one month's import cover. At the end of December 
2001, the level of gross reserves was equivalent to  1.2 months of imports. In 2002 the gross reserve 
rose to 2.3 months' imports cover and increased furt her to 3.9 months' imports cover as at end 2003. 
The external payments position has remained resilie nt, in the context of unprecedented rise in crude 
oil prices with a build-up of reserves to US$2.3 billi on or 3.0 months of imports cover at the end of 
2006. 
17. The large build-up in international reserves h as been driven by a combination favourable 
commodity prices (cocoa and gold), receipts of foreign aid and debt cancellation under the 
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). 
(7) EXTERNAL DEBT AND HIPC 
18. At the end of 2000 Ghana's external debt stood  at US$5.8 billion at a level considered very 
high to be sustainable which rendered the economy exte rnally vulnerable. The debt stock at the end of 
2000 represented 224 per cent of exports, 709 per ce nt of budget revenue and 124 per cent of GDP. 
Measured in present value (PV) terms, it was 395 per cent of revenue, which is one and half times the 
level considered to be unsustaina ble by international standards.  
19. External debt servicing in 2000 represented 9 per cent of GDP. In 2001, the external debt was 
expected to increase to US$6.2 billion due to new bo rrowings with another ¢4.4 trillion to be spent on 
servicing this debt, in addition to the large burden imposed by domestic debt servicing (accounting for 
5.5 per cent of GDP). The government therefore opted  for the HIPC in 2001, due to the apparent 
unsustainability of the country's debt profile. Opting for the HIPC is intended to deal, in a 
comprehensive manner, with Ghana's over all debt burden and to reduce it to sustainable levels in 
reasonable period of time. 
20. The HIPC initiative contributed significantly to the attainment of the relative macroeconomic 
stability that the economy has seen since the 2001. Th e relief enjoyed under the HIPC initiative partly WT/TPR/G/194 Trade Policy Review 
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accounted for the increase in reserve accumulation as well as the stability enjoyed in the foreign 
exchange market during the era under focus.  
Selected Debt Indicators 
 2004 2005 2006
  Debt Stock (US$ million)   6,367.9   6,759.8   2,773.4
  Debt Stock/Exports   1.9   1.7   0.6
  External Debt Service/export of goods and se rvices            5.7   5.6   3.1
  Debt Stock/Domestic Revenue   3.0   2.6   0.9
  External Debt Service/Domestic Revenue   9.3   8.4   5.3
  External Debt Service/GDP   2.2   2.0   1.3
  Debt Stock/GDP   72.2   63.4   27.2
21. Ghana's overall public and publicly guaranteed ex ternal debt stood at US$2,773.4 million at 
the end of December 2006, showing a decline of US$3,986.4 million over the previous year's stock 
level. The sharp drop in the debt stock in the review year was mainly the result of the cancellation of Ghana's debt under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). 
Selected Economic Indicators  
  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Real GDP Growth (%) 4.5 5.2 5.8 5.8 6.2
Inflation       
Year-on-year 15.2 23.6 11.8 14.8 10.5
Annual Average  14.8 26.7 12.6 15.2 10.9
Exchange Rate (End-period Transaction Rates)       
¢/US$ 8,438.80 8,852.30 9,051.30 9,130.82 9,235.3
¢/Pound Sterling 13,305.20 15,296.00 17,411.50 15,673.30 18,102.7
¢/Euro 8,511.60 10,986.30 12,309.00 10,814.97 12,144.5
Commodity Prices       
Cocoa (US$/tonne) 1,260.00 1,949.50 1,586.90 1,524.69 1,584.1
Gold (US$/fine ounce) 309.50 364.50 409.90 445.28 602.4
OIL, IPE Brent Crude (US$/Barrel) 25.00 28.40 37.80 55.12 66.3
External Sector 25.01 28.42 37.78    
Exports of goods and services (US$'m) 2,570.1 3,192.4 3,406.8 3,920.4 5,109.52
Imports of goods and services (US$'m) 3,327.9 4,132.6 5,355.7 6,611.7 8286.5
Current Account Balance (US$'m) -31.9 278.0 -315.9 -773.4 -812.7
Overall Balance of Payments (US$'m) 
Terms of Trade Index 39.8
88.76558.3
71.35--10.5
49.3584.3 
39.14 415.1
38.09
Gross International Reserves (end period, in US$'m) 640.4 1,425.6 1,732.4 1,894.9 2,266.7
     (months of imports of goods and services) 2.2 3.9 3.0 3.8 3.0
External Debt (US$'m) 6,585.3 8,034.6 6,367.9 6,749.8 3,303.4
Interest Rates (%)       
Bank of Ghana Prime Rate 24.5 21.5 18.5 15.5 12.5
91-day Treasury Bill 26. 6 18.7 17.1 11.45 10.7
182-day Treasury Bill 27. 2 20.3 17.9 12.78 10.7
1-year note 27 20.5 17.9 16.5 13.5
2-year note*   20 17 13.5
3-year note*   21.5 17.5 14
(cont'd)Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
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   2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Monetary Aggregates Growth (Year-on-Year)       
Reserve Money 42.6 33.4 18.5 11.2 32.3
Broad Money (M2+) 50 37.8 26.9 14.3 38.8
Broad Money (M2) 50 40.5 26.6 13.7 39.4
Nominal GDP ( ¢bn) 48,862.00 66,158.00 79,803.70 97,260.60 114,903.20
Government Budget (% of GDP)       
Total Revenue 18.0 20.8 23.8 23.8 22.3
Grants 3.1 4.7 6.1 5.2 5.5
Total Expenditure 26.1 28.7 33.3 30.7 33.8
Overall Balance (including Grants) -6.7 -4.6 -3.7 -2.3 -7.8
Domestic Primary Balance 2.4 2.3 0.7 3.4 -4.8
*  Introduced in September 2004.  
II. GHANA'S TRADE POLICY FRAMEWORK 
22. The new Ghana Trade Policy which was launched in February 2005 is the country's first 
coherent document that seeks to provide clear a nd transparent guidelines for the implementation of 
the Government's domestic and international trad e agenda. The Trade Policy was developed through a 
comprehensive and inclusive process based on well-r esearched analysis and wi de consultations with 
stakeholders which included Government Ministri es, Public Sector Implementing Agencies, Private 
Sector, Exporters, Research Bodies, Consumer Re presentatives and Civil Society. The key objective 
is to ensure a consistent and stable policy envir onment within which the private sector and consumers 
can operate effectively and with certainty.  
23. The fundamental principle underlying the Trade Policy is that the private sector is the engine 
of growth, with Government providing a trade en abling environment to actively stimulate private 
sector initiatives. The policy prescriptions emanate from  seven (7) thematic areas that form the basis 
of the document. The thematic areas a nd the issues they cover are as follows: 
(i)  International Trade : This relates to multilateral trade issues (participation in the WTO); sub-
 regional integration (ECOWAS); Economic Pa rtnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU; 
 Wider African Integration; Bilateral Trade Agreements; and Preferential Market Access. 
(ii)  Import-Export Regime : This deals with Tariff Measures & Non-Tariff Measures; Rules of 
 Origin; Quotas and Tariff Quotas; Export Controls; and Import and Export Incentives. 
(iii)  Trade Facilitation : This covers Customs Clearance; Airport and Port Services; Transit 
 Trade; TBT and SPS measures; and Export Finance. 
(iv)  Enhancing Production Capacity : This addresses issues relating to Investment Finance, 
 Production Inputs and Access to Land; Producti on Infrastructure; Productivity Improvement; 
 Trade Support Services; and Sectoral De velopment; Agro-processing; and Information & 
 Communication Technology (ICT). 
(v)  Domestic Trade and Distribution : This considers issues of Domestic Pricing; Encouraging 
 Domestic Trade; Credit for Trade; Trade Infrastructure; and Promotion of Locally 
 Manufactured Goods WT/TPR/G/194 Trade Policy Review 
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(vi)  Consumer Protection and Fair Trade : This deals with issues of Health and Safety of 
 Consumers; Economic Interest of Consumers; Access to Adequate Information; Consumption 
 and Environment; Consumer Representati on; and Competition Policy and Government 
 Procurement. 
(vii)  Intellectual Property Rights : This covers Protection of In tellectual Property Rights and 
 Technology Transfer. 
III. THE TRADE SECTOR SUPPORT PROGRAMME 
24. The Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP) is a five-year (2006-2010) Strategic Plan 
designed to implement the policy prescriptions in th e Ghana National Trade Policy. The objectives of 
the TSSP are to increase Ghana's comp etitiveness in international and domestic markets and improve 
the legal and regulatory environm ent for business and consumers. 
25. The TSSP consists of 27 projects which were c ouched from the thematic areas of the Trade 
Policy. Some of the key objectives th e programme seeks to achieve are to: 
− Improve structures for international trade negotiations as well as the formulation and 
implementation of trade negotiation strategies; 
− Create a fair and transparent import-export regime; 
− Facilitate trade; 
− Enhance production capacity for domestic and export markets; 
− Increase domestic trade and improve distribution;  
− Strengthen standards Institutions to ensure the protection of health and safety of consumers 
and also promote the quality of exports; 
− Establish and maintain a transparent and effective competition regime as well as a 
government procurement law that promotes effici ency and cost effectiveness in government 
procurement;  
− Promote consumer protection and fair trade; and 
− Protect intellectual property rights. 
26. The projects and activities being executed unde r the TSSP are intended to promote Ghana's 
accelerated growth which is underpinned by two parallel strategies of: 
(i) an export-led growth;  and  
(ii) domestic market-oriented industrialization based on import competition. Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
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 IV. GHANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS 
(1) THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM  
27. Ghana is a firm believer in the tenets of th e Multilateral Trading System (MTS) and fully 
committed to its principles. This is why it join ed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 
(GATT) in October 1957 after a ttaining independence in March 19 57 and became a founding member 
of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995. Howe ver, because of supply-side constraints Ghana 
has not been able to substantially take advant age of the market access opportunities offered by the 
Multilateral Trading System (MTS).  
28. It is expected that the new national Trade Policy and the Trade Sector Support Programme 
(TSSP) will enable it address these supply-side constr aints. In this connection, the Aid-for-Trade 
Initiative couldn't have come at a more opportune mome nt. It is the anticipation of Ghana, therefore, 
that Aid-for-Trade will soon be operationalized. 
29. Ghana also believes that true development-or iented outcomes of the Doha Round would go a 
long way towards achieving its objective of enhanc ing its competitive supply capacity and eventual 
integration into the global economy. 
30. Following from the above, Ghana's expecta tions from the on-going Doha Development 
Agenda include the following: 
(i) Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA):  Currently Ghana has bound only 1.2% of its 
 industrial tariffs. This was done in the Ur uguay Round. In the on-going round, Ghana is, 
 therefore, categorized as a Paragraph 6 c ountry for having bound less that 35% of its 
 industrial tariffs. Ghana is prepared to increas e its tariff binding to assure business people and 
 investors of the stability, security, certainty a nd predictability of its business environment. 
 Since Ghana depends heavily on customs duties as a source of government revenue for  development, it would require some amount of  policy space for revenue purposes and also to 
 protect its infant industries for rapid industria lisation and diversificati on of its industrial base. 
(ii) Agriculture:
 In the Uruguay Round Ghana bound all its agricultural tariffs. About 99% of its   
 agricultural tariffs were bound at a ceiling le vel of 99% to be effective from 2004. Lower 
 bound rates of 40% and 50% were set for a few agricultural products to apply from 1995. 
 However, Ghana maintains a standard applied rate of 20% on all agricultural products. Ghana 
 does not maintain any export subsidies nor does it maintain any trade-distorting domestic  support. However, Ghana is not immune from th e deleterious effects of  export subsidies and 
 trade-distorting domestic support of some WTO Members. Against this backdrop, the 
 elimination of export subsidies and substan tial reduction in domestic support in the Doha 
 Round are a priority to Ghana. Other areas of the agriculture negotiations of special interest to 
 Ghana include the reduction or elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalation on products of 
 export interest to Ghana, the self designati on of Special Products by developing countries to 
 be treated flexibly in the negotiations, and a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) to deal 
 with import surges. Preference erosion is also a matter of concern to Ghana. It is Ghana's 
 expectation that negotiations on this issue w ould be concluded in a manner that would give 
 true meaning to the negotiation as a development round. 
(iii) Rules:
 As an ACP country engaged in the nego tiation of Economic Partnership Agreement 
 (EPA) with the EU compatible with Article XXIV of GATT, 1994, Ghana has profound 
 interest in the amendment of Article XXIV to introduce into it flexibilities in favour of WT/TPR/G/194 Trade Policy Review 
Page 12 
 
 
 developing countries concluding Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with  developed countries. 
 Ghana, therefore, urges the Group on Rules to seriously and expeditiously address the 
 proposal submitted by the ACP countries in document TN/RL/W/155 dated 28 April 2004. 
(iv) Services:  In the Uruguay Round negotiations on services Ghana made commitments in basic 
 telecommunications services; financial services (banking and insurance); transport services 
 (maritime transport); educational services (sec ondary and specialist); c onstruction and related 
 engineering services; and tourism and travel-related services.  
 These areas were carefully selected because of  the desire of the government to attract 
 investments as well as technological innovations into the sectors to facilitate their 
 development. The objective was to allow s uppliers of these services to compete more 
 effectively and lower costs to consumers as well  as to enable efficient development of the 
 other sectors of the economy which require those services as inputs.  
 Ghana has prepared its draft offers for th e current negotiations in response to requests 
 submitted by some WTO Members, but is yet to table these offers. In preparing these offers,  as in the past, consideration was given more to those services whose efficient delivery or 
 supply could contribute to the efficient operati on of other sectors of the economy. The offers 
 are mostly improvements on the Uruguay Round offers, reflecting the more liberalized  environment. Ghana's primary objective in the services sector is to build and strengthen its  domestic supply capacity, efficiency and compe titiveness to enable it take better advantage of 
 the market access opportunities in sectors a nd modes in which it has supply capacity. 
 Ghana expects its developed country partners  to open up sectors and modes of supply of 
 export interest to developing countries, partic ularly mode 4. Developed country members' 
 offers should take cognisance of Article IV paragraph 1 of GATS. In the negotiations Ghana 
 seeks the maintenance of the architecture of the GATS intact. Ghana, like many other African 
 countries, also favours the maintenance of th e “positive list” “bottom up” approach which 
 enables it to select the sectors and sub-sect ors and modes of supply of interest to it. 
V. REGIONAL INTEGRATION 
(1) E
CONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) 
31. Ghana attaches great importance to regional economic cooperation and integration. Ghana 
actively participates in ECOWAS activities at all le vels, including the Conference of Heads of State 
and Government, Council of Ministers, Senior Officials and the Community Parliament, among 
others.  
32. With regard to the implementation of ECOWAS protocols, integration programmes and 
activities in the area of trade Ghana has taken actions on the following:  
− Free Movement Of Persons: Ghana has abolished entry visas and permits for ECOWAS 
nationals, adopted the ECOWAS travel certificate and implementing the ECOWAS Brown Card scheme.  
− Free Movement Of Goods: In line with the harmonization of customs documents by 
ECOWAS Member States Ghana has adopted th e ECOWAS certificate of origin, customs 
nomenclature (HS) and the customs declaration form. Ghana is charging the Community levy 
of 0.5% on imported goods from countries outside the region. Ghana is also fully implementing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) under which unprocessed Ghana WT/TPR/G/194 
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 goods from the region enter Ghana duty-free. However, industrial products must satisfy 
ECOWAS rules of origin and other certificati on conditions before being eligible for ETLS 
benefits.   
− Common External Tariff: The non -UEMOA member countries of ECOWAS are committed 
to the adoption of the UEMOA Common External  Tariff (CET) by 31 December 2007 for the 
creation of the ECOWAS Customs Union. Gh ana has the same tariff structure as UEMOA 
(i.e. 0%, 5%, 10% and 20%) with the differences being in some of the products on which they 
fall. Ghana has submitted to the ECOWAS Commission its final exception list for the 
ECOWAS Common External Tariff (CET). This is a list of tariffs Ghana wants to maintain. 
Negotiations are currently on-going between Member States in order to arrive at a 
harmonized CET by 31 December 2007.  
(2) ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA)  WITH THE EU 
33. Ghana, together with other West African countries, is negotiating a WTO-compatible 
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) to replace the existing non-
reciprocal Cotonou preferential trade regime unde r which about 97% of the exports of the ACP 
countries, including Ghana, enter the EU duty-free. The current regime is being implemented under a 
WTO waiver which expires on 31 December 2007. U nder the new regime, West Africa region and the 
other five ACP regions negotiating EPAs with the EU are expected to also open their markets 
progressively in an asymmetrical manner to EU exports. This will be ac companied by EU-supported 
measures to accelerate West Africa's integrati on processes, upgrade its industries and build its 
productive capacity and competitiveness. This is to en able West Africa to take full advantage of 
market access opportunities offered by the EU a nd to integrate into the global economy. The 
negotiations are expected to be concluded by 31 December 2007. However, it has been acknowledged 
by both sides that this is not possible given the outstanding work which remains to be accomplished 
by West Africa. West Africa and the European Co mmission (EC), which is negotiating on behalf of 
the EU, are therefore looking for an interim arrangement  that could be put in place to ensure that trade 
is not disrupted when the waiver expires on 31 D ecember 2007 so that the negotiations could continue 
until both sides agree on a true development-oriented EPA that will serve the best interests of West 
Africa. 
VI. BILATERAL TRADE 
34. Ghana has signed bilateral agreements with a nu mber of countries with the objective of taking 
advantage of opportunities offered in key strate gic markets, fostering business cooperation and 
technology transfer and encouraging Foreign Di rect Investment (FDI). However, should the 
ECOWAS Customs Union come into existence these agreements would have to be submitted to the 
ECOWAS Commission for acceptance or rejection by the Union. 
Preferential Arrangements:  Ghana benefits from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) 
offered by industrialised countries other than the EU and the United States of America. The United 
States offers a number of African countries, includi ng Ghana, special access to its market under the 
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Under AGOA over six thousand products from the 
beneficiary countries enter the USA market duty-fr ee and quota-free. Apparel made from US fabric, 
yarn or thread also enter the US market duty-free and quota-free.  WT/TPR/G/194 Trade Policy Review 
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VII. TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
35. Ghana very much appreciates the technical assistance it has been receiving from the WTO 
under the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust F und. A number of trade officers have benefited 
from the Geneva-based and Regional Trade Policy courses as well as the national and regional 
workshops and seminars. The on-line courses have also been beneficial. These have contributed 
immensely to increased awareness and the understa nding of the WTO Agreements and, thus, the 
capacity building of these officers. Howeve r, the knowledge and understanding of the WTO 
Agreements and the acquisition of negotiating sk ills alone do not translate into enabling the 
developing countries overcome their supply-side constr aints to be able to take advantage of the 
market access opportunities offered by the multilateral tr ading system. There is, therefore, the need to 
assist developing countries like Ghana without co mpetitive supply capacity to address their supply-
side constraints through, in particular, the Aid-for-T rade Initiative. In this respect Ghana would like to 
its trading partners to support its five-year  Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP).   
 
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