The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has engaged with textiles wholesalers and retailers on the implementation of the Textiles Tax Stamps Policy.
The engagement forms part of a public education campaign towards the launch and implementation of the policy before the close of the year.
It follows an earlier engagement with importers in May 2022.
The Minister, at the engagement, said the education and sensitisation exercise showed Government’s commitment to addressing the challenges of the textiles industry, developing and harnessing the significant potentials the sector offered.
He noted that the local demand for African prints was about 120 million yards per annum-about 65 per cent imported.
Mr Kyerematen recalled the vibrancy of the Ghanaian textiles industry some three decades ago, which had been dampened by the influx of pirated designs and infringements on trademarks of local textile manufacturers.
He said the Government, since 2018 had taken strategic steps and implemented policies to give lasting solutions to the challenges and make the local textile industry thrive under the Industrial Transformation Agenda.
The measures were also to strengthen the textiles sector and position it to create millions of well-paid jobs for Ghanaians.
The measures include the introduction and implementation of textiles tax stamps; import management systems; and the introduction of Designated Entry Corridors (Tema Port and Aflao Border for textile imports).
Others include the provision of incentive packages for local manufacturers to make them competitive; attracting foreign textile manufacturers to set up or relocate their plants to Ghana; and the reconstitution of the task force to embark on effective market monitoring and surveillance.
The Minister was optimistic that the policy measures would lead to the development of local textile firms and reduction in the importation of pirated textiles by promoting local manufacturing.
He was hopeful that the policies would also help to streamline the importation of textiles and further ensure that all the players involved in the textiles industry benefited.
The roll-out of the textiles tax stamps is expected to begin on November 1, 2022.
The implementation modalities will include having textiles stamps affixed on all textile prints traded in Ghana.
The wholesalers and retailers engaged the sector Ministry, Ministry of Finance, Ghana Revenue Authority-Domestic Tax Revenue Division, Intellectual Property Office and Ghana Standards Authority on other issues in the sector.
Sources: GNA