IBESC / Your shipping notebook / GH
Ghana
SPN /BESC/ ECTNSmart Port Note
The Republic of Ghana is country located in the sub-region of West Africa. It is bordered by 3 countries by BURKINA FASO to the North, IVORY COAST to the West and TOGO to the East.
Effective December 1st, 2024, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has reconfirmed that the ECTN/SPN for Ghana is mandatory for all shipments (transit cargo included) entering Ghana:
1. Each Bill of Lading must be covered by one ECTN/SPN.
2. The ECTN/SPN must be issued and validated at the port of loading and is mandatory for import clearance to Ghana.
3. Any cargo without a valid ECTN/SPN will not be cleared through the local Customs until clearance of fines and presentation of a valid ECTN/SPN is done.
4. Shipping lines must insert the unique ECTN/SPN number in the Bill of Lading and Cargo Manifest.
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From the start of the application, you have 5 calendar days to complete the application process.
Timeline ↓IBESC / 01
Documents and information required
Tick the documents you have ready. This checklist is a reminder, not validation of your application.
0 / 4 documents ready
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Procedure
Submit the required documents online or per email.
You will be sent a draft for pre-validation and an invoice, typically within the same day.
As soon as the invoice is paid, the applicant will receive a “Pre-Validation Agreement” with assigned CTN# to be added to your Bill of Lading.
Send the updated Bill of Lading with the addition of CTN number to obtain final validation.
Once your payment has been received and you approve the draft, validated certificate be sent.
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Timeline
- From the start of the application, you have 5 calendar days to complete the application process.
- Providing all documents and completing the process within 5 days after start of the application, the application will be TIMED-OUT
- Once all documents are received, and draft is approved, the validation can be released within 24 to 48 hours.
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Penalties
- Once application is timed out, shipment becomes subject to an Amendment Penalty.
- Cargo without an ECTN/SPN will not be loaded on the vessel, failure to do so will attract penalty/fines against the shipping line
- Shipment arriving without CTN for Ghana or false information in CTN results in a fine of an amount that is twice of the cost of the CTN, plus the regulation charge determined by Ghana Customs officials.
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Ports
- ACCRA
- TEMA
- TAKORADI
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Additional information
- The CTN for Ghana must validate at the latest 5 days after the departure and/or 5 days before the vessel arrives at the destination.
- Once the draft CTN document is approved, you can submit the CTN document for pre-validation to get the CTN number.
- This CTN number must be transmitted to the shipping line and must be mentioned on the Bill of Lading.
- COMPLIANCE WITH THE DEADLINES FOR FINAL APPROVAL OF THE BESC/ECTN/SPN - For any pre-validated ECTN and the transferred number – final validation must take place within 5 working days of the pre-validation date. Otherwise, the BESC will be cancelled on the platform and any fees collected will not be refundable. Please ensure you have all the required documents before starting the BESC/ECTN/SPN procedure.
- ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOLLOWING PRE-VALIDATION: Any request for corrections following the pre-validation of a BESC/ECTN/SPN will incur additional charges for the following changes: loading port, downloads or amendments to the commercial invoice and/or export customs document, changes to values or Incoterms, and changes to or additions of HS codes.