AGI supports anti-textiles piracy taskforce

Accra, Sept. 13, GNA – The Association of Ghana Industries said on Monday that it fully supports the operations of the Anti-Textiles Piracy Taskforce, which aims at stopping the importation and selling of faked local branded textiles in Ghana.

Nana Owusu-Afari, President of AGI told journalists that the taskforce was not against the importation of fabrics so far as they are not faked in terms of design, brand name and other characteristics.

“Much as we do not want our cloth sellers to be denied their legitimate trade of selling printed cloth and other textiles, AGI believes the best approach in tackling the pirating issue is the measure put in place by the Ministry of Trade and Industry,” he said.

He said the faked textiles had virtually brought the industry in the country to its knees, leading to the collapse of many companies in the past few years with adverse impact on job creation.

Nana Owusu-Afari said the current situation had been worsened by the influx of pirated local textile designs, with very low prices compared to locally produced wax prints with similar designs, adding that the most disturbing issue was the stamping of the trademarks of the local manufacturers.

“If they are produced from outside, the manufacturers should use their trademarks instead of our local manufacturers trademarks,” he said.

The AGI, he said, viewed the current development as not only resulting in unfair competition but also criminal since the foreign companies were cheating and contributing to unemployment.

Nana Owusu-Afari urged members of the cloth sellers associations to source Ghanaian prints from local textiles manufacturers.

“We wish to emphasise (that)every pirated piece of textile we sell or buy in our local market amounts to denying someone a job or the laying off somebody from the local textile manufacturing firms,” he added.

Mr Abraham Koomson, General Secretary Textiles, Garments and Leather workers Union and a member of the taskforce said the material evidence clearly showed that the names, logos, seals and brands of local textile manufacturers had been faked.

He said about 2,500 local textile manufacturing workers would hit the streets of Accra on Tuesday, in a demonstration to protest the smuggling of and trading in fake local textiles.

He said workers jobs were on the line as the business in fake local textiles was imposing huge financial losses on their employers.

Mr Koomson said the workers would support efforts to stop the practice and safeguard their jobs.