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Alex Dodoo, a private legal practitioner, has sued the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) in the High Court, Accra (General Jurisdiction), asking the Court to declare that the Authority's strict enforcement of the National Vehicle Standards against used vehicle imports is unlawful.
Per the writ of Mr. Dodoo filed on the 5th day of October, 2026, the Court is called upon to issue orders stopping the Standards Authority from strictly enforcing the National Vehicle Standards.
Background
According to the Statement of Claim, the GSA is the body corporate charged with establishing, promulgating and maintaining standards to ensure the quality of goods and services produced, procured, exported or imported for local consumption.
The plaintiff says that on 3 August 2026 the Authority issued a public notice announcing strict enforcement of the National Vehicle Homologation and Conformity Assessment programme from 1 October 2026. Under that notice, all new vehicle manufacturers and assemblers, as well as used vehicle importers, distributors and dealers, were required to register with the Authority. New vehicle models had to be homologated, and used vehicles that did not meet the prescribed requirements would not be permitted into the country on arrival.
A second public notice, dated 14 August 2026, set out the administrative framework for enforcing the National Vehicle Standards from the same date. According to the plaintiff, the said notice prohibits the importation of used vehicles that have not been inspected in the country of origin by a GSA-approved third-party inspection body and issued with a Certificate of Conformance.
It also lists characteristics that would bar a used vehicle from entry: submersion in water or flood damage, burning or fire damage, damaged chassis or safety cage (broken, cracked, bent or twisted), assembly from spare parts, no speedometer reading in kilometres per hour, and age above fifteen years.
The Plaintiff's Arguments
30th Sep, 2026
16th Oct, 2024
The plaintiff accepts that the GSA seeks to keep out vehicles that fail the required standards, but contends that the law allows it to prohibit the importation of goods only where they do not conform to an applicable or prescribed mandatory standard, or where a statute provides for it. His central point is that the National Vehicle Standards had not been declared a mandatory standard when he brought the action, and that no relevant law or instrument had done so.
He says only the Minister responsible for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry may declare a standard mandatory, and that no notice declaring the National Vehicle Standards mandatory has been published in the Gazette, as the law requires. By its two public notices, he argues, the Authority is trying to treat the standards as mandatory without that declaration. Enforcing them as mandatory would be unlawful and contrary to law, and would also usurp the Minister's power. He adds that unless the Court orders otherwise, the Authority will keep acting contrary to law.
Reliefs Sought
The plaintiff asks the Court for an order declaring that strict enforcement of the National Vehicle Standards to prohibit the importation of used vehicles, as stated by the Authority, is contrary to law and unlawful; an order injuncting the Authority from enforcing the National Vehicle Standards as set out in the public notices of 3 August 2026 and 14 August 2026; any further orders or directions the Court considers just, equitable and necessary; and costs.
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