Local textiles printers outraged at influx of fake prints

The Local Textiles Printers Association at Makola (LTPAM) has expressed its dissatisfac­tion and frustrations at the high rate of smuggling of cheap imported textiles on­to the Ghanaian market.

Speaking at a news conference in Accra, the association reaffirmed its support for the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hannah Tetteh, to create public awareness of the vio­lation of Ghanaian copyrights by foreign firms.

The association is made up of individuals who make their own designs and take the designs to the local textile factories for mass
pro­duction.

Mrs Philomena Kumah, an executive member who was the spokesperson for the association, said for some some years it has been very difficult for any member of the as­sociation to make profit regardless of the popu­larity of their designs.

This is because as soon as any of their prod­ucts hit the market and became popular, imi­tations of the same designs were illegally copied on cheaper fabrics in China and smuggled to the Ghanaian market.

Mrs. Kumah said, "because these designs are printed on cheaper fabrics, and because the importers manage to avoid paying duties and taxes, they are able to sell their fabrics at prices far below genuinely made Ghanaian products."

The bigger threat, she said, is the survival of the three remaining textile factories in the country which are GTP, Printex and ATL, adding, "other local textile factories collapsed because of the influx of cheap for­eign fabrics."

Mrs. Beatrice Amoo, president of the LTPAM, said, the situation has already resulted in unemployment for graduates of textile related courses.

" If the threat is not checked, it will mean that the chances of the collapsed factories coming back to business will be very slim," she said.

Mrs Amoo appealed to the government, to help revive the industry and suggested the setting up of a task force comprising of security agencies and tex­tiles factories to impound fabrics with counterfeit de­signs, arrest the copyright violators for prosecution and check the activities of tax evaders.