Government to single source all textile imports

A textile import management body has been constituted by government to oversee all importation of textiles into the country, Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyerematen has announced.

“This body would act as a single sourcing agency for all imports of wax prints. All importers would be required to place their orders through this agency,” the Minister explained at a town hall meeting with textile workers.

The vetting of the designs, management of quantities, among others will be the responsibility of the import management body, the Minister said.

He said a Textiles Anti-piracy Taskforce which has been constituted would undertake monitoring exercises on all markets to ensure due diligence is done.

He said the new import regime it does not seek to ban importation. According to him, government is only seeking to sanitize the textile industry to ensure that the Ghanaian industry is protected from fake imports.

“I must emphasize that the Government of Ghana is not against the importation of textile prints into the country due to the fact that our three manufacturing companies…are currently only able to supply forty million yards out of the total annual demand of 120 million yards, which is just about 30%” he said.

The town hall meeting was used to sensitize textile workers on the implementation of the Textile Industry Reforms Programme.

The sector Minister outlined some policies to be implemented by his ministry to enhance the competitiveness of the local Textiles Industry.

He mentioned the introduction of Tax Stamp for locally manufactured and genuinely imported textiles, introduction of a Designated Entry Corridor and revision of Task Force as some of the policies.

Mr. Kyeremanten said the Trade and Industry Ministry has collaborated with the Ghana Revenue Authority and Ministry of Finance to recruit a local IT firm, Grascon, to design and deploy the tax stamp.

He assured the traders of government’s support to ensure increase their revenue.

The Trades and Industry minister also said all these policies are aimed at protecting the local textiles market to create jobs for the youth.