Textile importers to seek permission to check piracy

Importers of textiles will soon be required to send samples of the products they intend to import to a vetting committee for approval before being allowed to import them.

Mr Appiah Donyina, Chairman of a Joint Task Force put in place to curb the menace of importation of pirated Ghanaian textile prints, said this at Kpone on Monday.

He was speaking when the task force burned about 363 pieces of pirated Ghanaian textiles it had seized.

Mr Donyina said this was to prevent importers from sending patterns of pirated cloth to manufacturers in China and other countries to produce textiles that were originally designed by Ghanaian companies like GTP and ATL.

He said the Ministry of Trade would soon inaugurate the committee made up of personnel from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Standards Board, Ministry of Trade, textile manufacturers, textile importers and the Textile Garment and Leather Employees Union.

Mr Donyina explained the burning of the textiles was in accordance with the World Trade Organization’s agreement which allowed intellectual property right holders to take action and prevent the release of pirated goods into circulation.

He advised Ghanaians to stop patronizing such pirated textiles since they were injurious to health due to the chemicals used in their production.

While the textile was being burned, some women who work at the Kpone rubbish dump site as plastic collectors kept shouting, “Bronya eba,” meaning “Christmas is coming”, while others shouted “God will punish you.”

Source: GNA