Documents to Clear Your Car at Tema Port

When your car arrives at Tema Port from Korea, customs clearance is really a paperwork exercise. If every document is correct and matches the vehicle, clearing is fast and predictable. If one paper is missing, wrongly valued, or does not match the chassis number, your car sits in the terminal while charges add up. This guide walks you through exactly what you need, in the order it is used, so you know what a clean file looks like.

At SmartLink Auto we handle the full clearing and paperwork for the cars we export, so most buyers never touch these forms themselves. Even so, it helps to understand the process, because it is your car and your money moving through it.

The core documents (your clearing checklist)

Here is the paperwork that a licensed clearing agent submits into ICUMS (the Integrated Customs Management System that the Ghana Revenue Authority uses at Tema). Keep originals safe and give clear copies to your agent.

• Bill of Lading (or sea waybill). The shipping document from the carrier proving ownership and consignment of the vehicle. Clearing cannot start without it.
• Commercial or purchase invoice. Shows what you paid and who sold it. Customs uses this alongside the vehicle history for valuation.
• Export certificate / deregistration document from Korea. This is the Korean title equivalent (the export deregistration record) that confirms the car was legally exported and is no longer registered in Korea.
• Packing list. A simple manifest of the shipment, more relevant when the car ships inside a container with other goods.
• Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or Ghana Card PIN. Required for the importer of record before any declaration can be filed.
• Import Declaration Form. The formal declaration that the import is registered with the authorities.
• Chassis number / VIN details, plus make, model and year. These drive the duty assessment and must match the physical car exactly.
• Regulatory permits, if applicable. Most private cars do not need these, but your agent will advise if anything special applies.

Requirements can change and some cases are unusual, so always confirm the current list with your clearing agent or directly with the GRA/ICUMS.

How the clearance sequence works

1. Before arrival: get the file ready

Once the Bill of Lading and the Korean export document are in hand, your agent can check the likely duty in ICUMS using the chassis number or VIN. This means you can often know and even pay the duty before the vessel berths, which saves days.

2. ICUMS declaration

The licensed clearing agent lodges the customs declaration in ICUMS with all the documents attached. The system then runs the declaration through classification (what the item is), valuation (what it is worth), and approval.

3. Valuation and duty assessment

Duty on a used vehicle is not based only on what you paid. Ghana Customs works from the manufacturer's original price, applies age-based depreciation, converts to a value at the current exchange rate, then adds freight and insurance. On top of the import duty come VAT, NHIL, the GETFund levy and other charges, so the total is well above the headline duty rate. Older vehicles can also attract a penalty, so age matters.

4. Pay the duty

When the declaration is approved, ICUMS generates a tax bill. Duties and taxes are paid at a participating bank. The car cannot be released until this is settled.

5. Examination

ICUMS assigns a risk channel. Green usually means gate release with a routine scan, yellow means a scan review, and red means a physical examination where an officer confirms the chassis number and condition against the declaration. This is why the VIN on your papers must match the car precisely.

6. Release and exit

After examination clears and everything reconciles, the car is released and leaves the terminal at the exit gate with the shipping document.

After the port: DVLA registration

Customs clearance gets the car out of Tema, but it is not road-legal yet. To drive it, the vehicle must go through the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) for a roadworthy inspection, a registration certificate, number plates and insurance. Keep your customs documents, because DVLA registration relies on proof that duty was paid and the car was legally imported.

Common causes of delay

Most hold-ups at Tema trace back to a handful of avoidable problems:

• Incomplete documents. A missing invoice, Bill of Lading or export paper stops the declaration cold.
• Valuation disputes. If the declared value does not line up with the purchase invoice and the vehicle history, customs will question it. ICUMS now catches mismatches quickly.
• Chassis or VIN mismatches. Even a single wrong digit between the papers and the car triggers a red-channel examination.
• Late payment. Storage and demurrage charges build up daily while a car waits, so paying duty early is one of the biggest money savers.
• Using an unlicensed or careless agent. Only a licensed clearing agent can file in ICUMS, and an experienced one avoids the errors above.

How SmartLink makes this simple

For the cars we export from Korea, we prepare the file end to end: the Bill of Lading, the invoice, the Korean export deregistration document, and the VIN details all match before the car ever reaches Tema. We work with licensed clearing agents so the ICUMS declaration, duty payment and examination move without surprises, and we can guide you through DVLA registration afterward. You receive a car that is cleared cleanly, with paperwork you can keep.

If you are planning an import, talk to us early. Getting the documents right before the ship sails is the single best way to clear fast at Tema Port.