Ban on secondhand goods will affect over 20,000 Ghanaians – CSHDA

The Concerned Second-Hand Dealers Association (CSHDA) under the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is accusing the Energy Commission of toying with the lives of over 20,000 people in the second-hand electronic garget dealership sector of the economy.

According to the association, the commission without any stakeholder engagements has gone ahead to get Parliament to pass a blanket ban on the importation of second-hand goods into the country.

Mr Daniel Asare, president of the CSHDA made this accusation while discussing the commission's ban on second-hand goods on the Ghana Yensom morning show on Accra 100.5 FM hosted by Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Monday, January 30, 2023.

He argued that the regulatory commission instead of finding pragmatic ways of having the importation of the second goods regulated is hiding behind an erroneous claim that second goods do not conform with standards.

He explained that second-hand goods pass tests for standardisation in the country of origin before being imported into the country.

He stressed that many of the second-hand goods are not obsolete equipment.

“Many of the products we sell are products that have been replaced by the users in the country of origin,” he said.

“So someone is using a 3k television (TV) and replacing them with a 4k TV and so if the 3k item is imported into Ghana [it] becomes obsolete?” he wondered.

He challenged the electronic regulatory commission to develop a better explanation for the ban on second-hand goods.

“The government had not created any jobs for the teeming unemployed youth and yet the existing ones too you want to ban it?” he asked rhetorically.

On his part, the Assistant Manager in charge of Energy Efficiency at the Energy Commission, Hubert Nso Zan, contested the claims of the leadership of the association.

He added that most goods imported into the country have not met the Minimum Performance Standard test.

He explained that items sold on United Kingdom’s market as second-hand goods were items that were brand new and met standards.

“Obsolete items are not sold in the European Union zone as second-hand goods,” he corrected.