Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Trade and Industry, on Tuesday tasked the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to adopt strategies to smoke-out unscrupulous manufacturers, who put its certification mark on their products without their consent.

He also asked the Board to check those, who after getting their products certified, lowered the standard and yet displayed the GSB certification mark.

Dr Apraku said this when he inaugurated the governing boards of the Ghana Standards Board and the Ghana Heavy Equipment Limited (GHEL) in Accra.

The nine-member GSB Board has Professor Emmanuel Kenneth Agyei of the University of Ghana, Legon, as its Chairman while the chairman for the eight-member Board of GHEL is Mr Kofi Asare Darkwa Poku, a businessman.

The Minister said since the thrust of Ghana's economic programme is on export the GSB should expedite action to inform and educate manufacturers on how to have their products certified as demanded by the international consumer.

He urged GSB to work hand-in-hand with the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) to ensure that sub-standard and expired goods are not dumped in

the country at the peril of national health.

Dr Apraku also urged GSB to take cognisance of its national functions by finding ways that could make it profitable and also develop standards to support

national policy of promoting non-traditional export products.

On GHEL, the Minister said there was a wider scope open to the company to grow and make significant contribution to employment generation and financial contribution to the government as a public commercial entity.

He said as GHEL was a division of the defunct Ghana National Trading Corporation (GNTC), it was a challenge to the new board and management to work hard to uplift and sustain the company to cut down the cost of importing heavy equipment.

"We should at least be able to assemble some of the equipment here to cut down cost since our country is faced with a significant budget deficit."

The two Chairmen promised that they and their members would work hard to justify the trust reposed in them.