Illegal Textile Dealers Given 3-Months Ultimatum

Government has issued a three-month ultimatum to illicit textile retailers to evacuate all pirated textile materials from the markets or face the wrath of the textile task force.

This follows a crunch meeting between the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Industrial and Commercial Workers Union and Textile Manufacturers Workers on Thursday.

The parties agreed that the Ministry of Finance begins implementation of the tax stamp policy on textile materials latest by September this year.

Addressing journalists in a joint press conference after the meeting, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanteng tasked the Finance Ministry to begin engagement with stakeholders in the textile industry by 1st June for the introduction of the tax stamp policy.

Mr Kyeremanteng said, "The Ministry of Trade and Industry working in collaboration with the Finance Minister and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union has agreed to introduce tax stamps in the regulation of trade in textiles in Ghana. We have agreed among ourselves that beginning June, the Ministry of Finance will begin with an engagement with all industry players on the introduction of this tax stamps.

The combined production of three or four textile companies cannot exceed the demand for our country so the government is not interested in banning the importation of textiles but we want to regulate it properly," he said.

Mr Kyeremanteng said, “Every piece of cloth will have a tax Stamp from the ministry of finance and clearly, this will help us to monitor those selling pirated or counterfeit textile materials in the market.”

Some other measures agreed by the parties to end the influx of pirated textiles into the country also includes the imposition of import restriction on textile materials and among others.

According to the Trade Ministry, there are about 120 million yards per annum demand for textile material in the country, a situation the Minister believes will improve in the coming years due to the crave for African wear by many Ghanaians.

The Ministry has vowed to deal with any importer who brings in a pirated textile material after September 1.

Meanwhile, Mr Kyeremanteng has promised to use the public procurement process to ensure that uniforms for state institutions and students in the basic schools are printed by the local manufacturers.

According to him, this will help boost the capacity of the manufacturing companies to employ more people.