Standards Authority vows to be uncompromising on safety

The Ghana Standards Authority has appealed to exporters and importers to do more to become abreast with the Ghana Conformity Assessment Programme (G-CAP), designed to promote acceptable trade practices.

Mr Kwasi Owusu Boadu, Ashanti Regional Director of the GSA, said compliance would help discourage the importation of unsafe, sub-standard and counterfeit products.

This way the health and safety of consumers as well as the environment would be protected.

Addressing a stakeholders’ consultative forum in Kumasi, he said the G-CAP, which would come into operation on October 1, sought to avoid a situation where the domestic market becomes a dumping ground for non-conforming products.

The programme, an initiative of the GSA, is being carried out in line with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) regulations and it mandates that specific products meet the requirements of the technical regulations and standards set by the importing nation.

The forum was organized by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) to give traders an insight into how the G-CAP works and its relevance to the business community and fair trade.

Mr Boadu said under it, quality verification of products would be done in the exporting country to reduce delay and allow for swift clearance of goods at entry points.

“The system is networked in such a way that any issues arising from misunderstanding, delays, amongst others, are resolved immediately,” he said.

He told the stakeholders that the G-CAP was distinctly different from pre-shipment inspection and that the two were not the same.

Under pre-shipment inspection, the valuation, classification and quantities of the consignment are done by the pre-shipment companies on behalf of government, and with G-CAP all importers are expected to conform to technical or international regulations and standards.