Ghanaian importers incorrectly billed a $1,000 emergency conflict surcharge by global shipping line CMA CGM will receive full refunds after the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) concluded that the charge was applied to their consignments through an automated billing error rather than a deliberate commercial decision.
GSA Chief Executive Officer Professor Ransford Gyampo said investigations carried out after complaints from affected importers found that CMA CGM had issued a global instruction to its shipping agencies to activate a war risk clause surcharge in the wake of escalating conflict in the Middle East. The company’s centralised billing system then automatically applied the charge across invoices, including for shipments that predated the surcharge’s effective date.
“Our investigations show that there was a global announcement to all CMA CGM shipping agencies to invoke the War Clause Surcharge in their list of charges,” Gyampo said, adding that the automated system generated the disputed cost line for some containers where the charge did not legitimately apply.
CMA CGM’s published advisory states the Emergency Conflict Surcharge applies to bookings issued on or after March 2, 2026, for cargo not yet shipped and for cargo already in transit but not yet discharged. Importers who complained said the charge had appeared on invoices for goods shipped before that date, which they argued fell outside the surcharge’s own stated terms.
Gyampo confirmed the error has been identified and that CMA CGM is in the process of reversing the charges. He said all affected importers would receive refunds directly from the shipping line.
The episode unfolded against a backdrop of rapidly rising freight costs across global shipping lanes. CMA CGM, along with Hapag-Lloyd and other major carriers, introduced war risk surcharges from March 2 following Iranian attacks on three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, with rates varying by container size and route across the Arabian Gulf region.
For Ghana, where a substantial share of consumer and industrial goods arrives by sea, unexpected freight surcharges translate directly into higher landed costs and potential inflationary pressure at the retail level. The GSA’s swift intervention was welcomed by importers, with the authority crediting early social media complaints from shipping industry stakeholders for bringing the billing discrepancy to its attention.
