How to ship a barrel to Ghana from the USA or UK

To ship a barrel to Ghana, you buy or rent a large drum, pack it at home, and hand it to a barrel or cargo company. It goes by sea to Tema with other people's barrels and boxes, gets cleared through customs, and waits at the company's warehouse for your family to collect. Expect it to take one to two months, and expect Ghana Customs to charge duty on new goods, even gifts.

Barrels are still the best way to send the things you already own. For new things you would buy in the USA anyway, buying them there and having them delivered in Accra is often simpler. This guide explains both honestly.

How barrel shipping to Ghana works

1. Get a barrel. Most cargo companies sell or lend sturdy plastic or fibre drums with a lid and a locking ring.
2. Pack it. Heavy things at the bottom, soft things to fill the gaps, nothing loose that can break.
3. Make a list of what is inside. Customs and the shipper both want to know. Write down each item, the number of pieces and roughly what it is worth.
4. Seal and label it with the sender's and receiver's names and Ghana phone numbers.
5. Drop it off or book a pickup. The shipper adds it to a container going to Tema.
6. Customs clearing in Ghana. At the ports, Ghana's law requires a licensed clearing agent, so the shipper or an agent declares your barrel and pays the duty.
7. Collection. Your family picks it up from the shipper's warehouse, usually with ID and the receipt or tracking number.

Before you book, ask the shipper three things: whether duty and clearing are included in the price or paid by your family on collection, where in Ghana the barrel can be collected, and what happens if it is opened by customs.

How long a barrel takes to reach Ghana

Barrels go by sea, and the sailing is only part of the wait. The barrel waits until the container is full, then sails, then waits at Tema for unloading and clearing.

• From the UK: shipping companies quote anything from about 25 to 37 days for the sea journey, and up to 55 to 60 days for barrels to be ready at a warehouse in Accra.
• From the USA: the sailing alone from New York to Tema takes about four weeks, before the time spent filling the container and clearing customs.

So plan on one to two months from drop-off to collection, and longer at Christmas, when everyone ships at once.

Do you pay duty on a barrel to Ghana?

Usually, yes. This is where most people get caught out.

• Gifts are dutiable. Ghana Customs charges duty on all goods unless a law exempts them, and that includes gifts and charitable donations. A GRA customs officer has explained publicly that gifts you buy abroad for family and friends attract duty.
• Your own used things can be free. If you are travelling to Ghana, your own clothes and household items count as personal effects. Electrical goods only count if you have used them yourself for at least six months, and none of it may be for sale or for other people.
• Declare a barrel that travels separately from you. If your barrel is your own baggage arriving before or after you, declare it on a Passenger's Unaccompanied Baggage Declaration, on arrival or within 48 hours. If you do not, you can lose the duty-free concession.
• Moving home for good. Ghanaians who have lived abroad for more than 12 months in a row, are over 18 and are moving back can bring their household goods free of tax as "removal articles". Cars, spare parts, building materials and goods in commercial quantities are not included.

There is no fixed number of items that makes a barrel "commercial". In September 2026 the GRA said customs looks at the nature, condition and quantity of the goods and the circumstances. Ten identical phones or a dozen of the same cream looks like stock for sale, and is charged that way.

Since 3 August 2026, the Ghana Shippers' Authority has also required shippers to be registered on the customs system before their cargo is cleared, with a fee for those who are not. Ask your barrel company how this applies to your barrel.

What not to pack in a barrel to Ghana

• Anything Ghana bans. Weapons, counterfeit money, obscene material and used fridges, freezers and air conditioners are all seized. Our guide to what you cannot ship to Ghana has the full list.
• Large amounts of food, medicine or cosmetics. These are controlled by the Food and Drugs Authority. Bringing them in as personal effects needs an FDA permit, and food must have at least two-thirds of its shelf life left when it is cleared.
• Dangerous goods. Aerosol sprays, perfume, nail polish, lighter fluid and loose batteries are regulated as hazardous materials when they travel. Ask the shipper before you pack any of them.
• Things worth more than the barrel. A new phone or laptop rattling in a drum for two months is a risk. Small, valuable things travel better by courier or with a trusted traveller.
• Cash. Bank notes sent as goods need a Bank of Ghana licence. Use a licensed money transfer instead.

When a barrel makes sense, and when it does not

A barrel is good value when you are sending things you already own: clothes the children have outgrown, bedding, shoes, household things, or a move back home. It is also good for big mixed loads that would cost a lot to send piece by piece.

It makes less sense when you are going to the shops to buy new things just to fill it. You pay for the goods, carry them home, pack them, pay the shipper, and your family may still pay duty on collection. If something breaks or goes missing, there is often no receipt in Ghana and no shop to return it to.

The other way: buy it in the USA, collect it in Accra

Landed buys new things from US stores for you, ships them, clears them through Ghana customs, and holds them at our Accra showroom. You pay one all-in price in cedis, agreed before you pay: the item, the shipping, the duty and clearing, and our service. There is no barrel to fill and no duty to settle on collection.

• Paste a link from Amazon, Walmart, Target or any US store and get a price. Tell us the order is for family.
• We message your family on WhatsApp the day it lands. They can come themselves or send their own driver with the order number.
• As of 2 November 2026, our orders from the USA take about 25 days by air and 45 to 90 days by sea, from the day we buy to arrival in Accra.

If you live in the UK, we do not buy from UK shops, but you can still order from US stores for family in Ghana the same way.

Popular things families send home this way are baby and kids' clothes, bedding and cookware, clothes and sneakers and skincare and perfume. For ideas, see the best things to send home to Ghana, and for how US shipping and duty work, our guide to shipping from the USA to Ghana.