Leadership of the Textile, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TEGLU) are demanding that the borders at Aflao and other entry points be strictly monitored to stop pirated goods from entering the country.
Their demand follows the decision by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ghana Revenue Authority to make the Tema port the only entry point for textiles into the country.
According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, it is prudent that there is a designated point of entry for textiles in order to prevent the influx of pirated goods onto the markets.
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In an interview with Citi Business News, General Secretary of the Textile, Garment and Leather Employees Union, Abraham Koomson said traders of textiles will continue to use other borders to bring their textiles into the country if monitoring is weak.
“This is not the first time we are hearing this from the government, what is important is that you are restricting the imports from Tema Portâ€, he said.
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“The questions that need to be asked is what measures are they putting in place to monitor and check the other entry points in the country because Aflao is still open, so if government is saying that traders should not use Aflao monitoring must be tightâ€.
Mr. Koomson argued that announcing the measures without the necessary measures to deter people from using the Aflao border will be counterproductive.
He added, “Some of the traders are protesting the decision saying they do not agree with him and so it means that, if they do not put proper measures to police the Aflao border they will not use Tema Port, they will still use Aflao so government must go further to make sure that the Aflao border is closely monitored and those who use that route are arrested and prosecutedâ€.
Source: citibusinessnews.com