Accra (Greater Accra), 5 March '99 -

The attention of the government and the implementation agencies of ECOWAS protocols have been drawn to the circulation of fake ECOWAS Brown Cards in the sub-region. Alhaji Lawal Isa, Chairman of the West Africa Road Transport Union (WARTU), told participants at a conference on co-operation on transport and inter regional trade development at the on-going ECOWAS Trade Fair in Accra that the issue is creating serious problem. Alhaji Isa expressed concern about the slow pace of implementation of the Brown Card scheme. He said the co-operation between the insurance companies and transport owners in the sub-region have not been encouraging. Some of the member states of ECOWAS have not yet set up national bureau for the effective implementation and monitoring of the scheme. Mr. Bemardi Woto, secretary General of the ECOWAS Brown Card called for the harmonisation of legislation on policies to facilitate the implementation of the scheme. He called on ECOWAS to set a guarantee fund, under which insurance companies in the sub-region will contribute to facilitate the smooth implementation of the scheme