Free Zones Board Cracks Whip

…Delists Five Companies

By Liberty Amewode, News Editor

The Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) has set up an audit department to check the operations of Free Zone companies to ensure that they are compliant with the Free Zones law and regulations in respect of the production and sale of products within the national customs territory.

Already, five companies identified within the first half of the year to be inactive and dormant have been delisted and their licenses revoked in accordance with Section 18 (i) of the Free Zones Act 1995 (Act 504).

The Board has also passed a Legislative Instrument (L.I) to avoid arbitrariness in the tax regime applicable to free zone companies which have operated for ten (10) years.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Hanna Tetteh, told journalists in Accra that in addition to completing all the outstanding exercises from the previous year, about fifty percent of licensed companies have been visited and their operations audited within the period.

She said a total of over 90 companies have been visited, adding that the visits are used as platforms to educate companies on their obligations and expectations under the Free Zones Act and the regulations.

The minister made the revelations in an interaction with the media in Accra last week, to brief them on her outfit’s work so far in delivering the “Better Ghana” agenda to Ghanaians.

Ms Hanna Tetteh said her ministry has been pursuing the agenda of export-led growth, believing strongly that economic growth would be achieved through increased international trade.

“This underlies our commitment to encourage the export sector, improve the competitiveness of local industries and also the competitiveness of Ghana as a business destination”, she said.

In achieving this objective, she intimated, the ministry has continued to implement the prescriptions in the Trade Policy and its Sector Support Programme as well as the projects contained in the Private Sector Development Strategy I (PSDS I).

Outlining some achievements of her ministry, Ms Tetteh said certain policies such as the phasing out of Paper Import Declaration Form (IDF) and its replacement with Electronic Import Declaration Form (e-IDF) had led to speedy and efficient clearance of goods at the ports and reduction in the cost of doing business.

She said the Ghana Community Network (GC-Net) has been strengthened and connected to key MDAs, Border Points, Freight Forwarders and Other Users, adding that all major Customs posts have also been connected to the GC-Net. “Major Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the clearance process have also been connected to the GCNet”, she added.

On effective tracking mechanism for transit cargo, the minister said Internet Protocol (IP) camera facilities, seals and satellite transit tracking devices have been introduced to effectively monitor transit cargo trucks to neighbouring countries.

“The facilities have been integrated into the Ghana Customs Management System (GCMS) which makes CEPS the first customs administration to use such a system in Africa. This forms part of the Ministry’s efforts to ensure efficient, cost effective and secure cargo transit facilities to serve our landlocked neighbours and to make our ports attractive for increased transit trade”, she added.

Touching on the issue of importation of pirated textiles, the minister said the ministry has constituted a Joint Task Force to discourage the importation of pirated Ghanaian textiles and given the authority to seize and destroy such pirated textiles smuggled into the country.

“This is one of the measures being taken by the Ministry to ensure that the investments undertaken by the textile industry in design and development of new fabrics are protected”, she said.

On domestic trade and distribution, Ms Tetteh said as part of the Government’s objective to create an efficiently functioning domestic market, the ministry has developed modern model market plans for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Capitals throughout the country.

“We want to encourage Private Sector investors and the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to form partnerships to build these new markets as public/private partnerships and facilitate the creation of new modern market infrastructure across the country”, she stressed.

Speaking on intellectual property rights, the minister said in order to encourage innovation, creativity and invention, the ministry continued its activities in the area of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to assure inventors and innovators of adequate protection of their property rights.

She said the National IPR Policy Committee, which was inaugurated on July 6, 2010 to assist in the development of an intellectual property rights policy for the country, began their work this month.

“The Trademarks and Industrial Designs Acts and their respective regulations have been revised. Three other statutes: Patents, Geographical Indications and Plant Varieties Protection are being revised and will be completed by the end of this month.

“This will then be followed by revision of two other Acts: Integrated Circuits and Topographies, and Protection of Trade Secrets/Undisclosed Information. The revision of the two Acts would be completed by the end of the year”, she said.

According to the minister, IPR awareness programme has begun for focused groups and a seminar was organized for some micro, small and medium scale enterprises in June this year, adding that two other seminars for the Arts and Crafts Industry and researchers in the Universities and Research Institutions will take place in October and November 2010. The Business Analyst

(businessanalystgh@yahoo.com)