Ghana plans to clamp down on textiles illegally entering the domestic market, according to deputy trades minister Carlos Ahenkorah, who recently said every textile item that gets onto the shelves must have a coded textile stamp. The government intends to get a law passed in parliament to back this policy and the attorney general is drafting the bill, he said.
All textile items will be audited to ensure these are of the right quality before the stamp is issued, a Ghanaian newspaper report quoted the lawmaker as saying.
The Coalition of Textile Workers has constantly petitioned the government to clamp down pirated textiles in the Ghanaian market. The workers say the presence of these substandard products on the markets is collapsing their businesses.
The workers have asked the authorities to extend the anti-pirated textiles task force from the ports to the markets.
