The Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) has given the Ministry of Finance a 14‑day deadline to suspend the implementation of Section 136 of the Customs Act, 2026 (Act 1179). COMAC cautions that the new tax collection framework could increase costs and create risks for fuel supply.
COMAC has alerted its members and will convene an emergency general meeting if the Ministry fails to announce the suspension within the stated period. The meeting will determine next steps through legitimate administrative, regulatory and legal channels.
Section 136 shifts responsibility for accounting downstream petroleum taxes from Oil and LPG Marketing Companies (OMCs/LPGMCs) to Bulk Import, Distribution and Export Companies (BIDECs), with taxes to be accounted for at the point of sale. The Commissioner‑General of the Ghana Revenue Authority may defer payment for up to 21 days against a bank guarantee.
“COMAC considers Section 136 to be a transfer of risk, not reform. The Chamber’s position remains that existing controls should be enforced, with full transparency on overrides and exceptions and a complete accounting for products, before any replacement of the system is contemplated,” the statement read.
The Chamber warns that concentrating the tax obligation at the bulk‑supply level could create a potential single point of failure, arguing that action against one BIDEC could affect multiple marketers and retail outlets. It also raises concerns about possible inconsistencies between Section 126(6) and Section 136 regarding the timing of tax obligations on petroleum consignments.
COMAC says the industry was not adequately consulted before the provision was enacted and that no published impact assessment or evidence‑based modelling has been provided on its potential effect on working capital, credit, fuel supply security and pump prices. The Chamber is instead calling for the existing framework to be retained, with BIDECs continuing to pay import duties and port charges at importation, while OMCs and LPGMCs account for taxes and levies ex‑pump.
COMAC is also demanding transparency over the use of credit‑limit overrides within the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS), as well as an independent review of non‑bonded status granted to some operators. The Chamber says it is particularly seeking a formal response to its analysis of industry data, which it claims identified an estimated 819.25 million litres of unaccounted‑for petroleum products in 2025, with an associated revenue implication of about GH¢2.5 billion. It is also seeking information on ten diesel tankers it says were impounded in October 2025.
COMAC maintains that the accumulation of arrears is primarily an enforcement challenge and that moving the tax collection point will not resolve weaknesses in the existing system. “COMAC has no interest in disruption, given the essential service its members provide to households and businesses. The industry, however, is unable to operate with confidence under a framework that has not been tested, explained, or justified, and which in its view shifts the risk of enforcement failures to operators and ultimately to the Ghanaian consumer,” the statement added.
In the coming days the Ministry of Finance will decide whether to suspend Section 136, a decision that could reshape the fuel tax landscape and affect pump prices across the country.
