Task Force destroys pirated textiles

Accra, Aug. 5, GNA – About 580 pieces of pirated textiles confiscated from traders in various markets in the country were on Friday destroyed at the Kpone Landfill site, near Tema, by a task force set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The destruction, which took the form of burning, was witnessed by officials of the Ministry, the Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Standards Board and representatives of Textile Manufacturers and Textile Importers Association of Ghana.

Speaking to journalists, Mr Appiah Doyina, Chairman of the Task Force, noted that pirating of textiles was being carried by a “network”.

According to him, without such a network, the pirated textiles would not reach traders in the market.

“The small-scale traders are not our target. We are now targeting the importers of the pirated textiles,” Mr Doyina said.

He expressed the readiness of the task force to get to the root of the network in order to nib in the bud pirating of textiles to save manufacturers whose factories were collapsing.

Mr Doyina noted that research carried out by the Ministry indicated that traders were now aware of the pirated textiles, saying “now if you go to the market, the traders would differentiate between textiles from Ghana and the pirated one from China.”

According to him people patronized the pirated textiles because they were cheaper but cautioned that they rather contained dangerous that could cause skin cancer.

He said the exercise, which was the fifth in the series, would continue unabated, adding “there would be subsequent destruction in all the regions”.

Mr Emmanuel Acolatse, Acting General Secretary, Ghana Textiles and Distributors Association, noted that the pirating of textiles was one of the easiest ways of making money and cheating unsuspecting people.

He attributed the influx of pirated textiles to porous borders and entreated the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to continue to be vigilant.

Following a complaint by a local textile manufacturer and petitions to the Ministry in 2006, the task Force was established to curb the menace of imported pirated Ghanaian textile prints.

It also ensures that importers, who engaged in pirated prints, were brought to book.

Under the World Trade Organization rules, members are enjoined to destroy or dispose of pirated works. Governments are not allowed to re-export pirated goods.