Government must be strict in regulating industrial sector - Nana Otuo Siriboe II

The Chairman of the Council of State Nana Otuo Siriboe II has said for the country to achieve its vision of creating a vibrant technologically-driven and competitive trade and industrial sector, there must be provisions for relief and incentives for the industries.

Nana Otuo Siriboe II, who was the Chairman at the second National Policy Summit in Accra held on Monday, August 14, 2017, opines that instituting tariff regimes by government will give a competitive advantage for locally manufactured products.

The Juabenhene also suggests the need to place a ban on importation of products such as drugs by the Ministry of Health (MoH) because these do not give the country any competitive advantage.

He calls for an application of appropriate duty rate, avoidance of under declaration, under invoicing and missed declaration at the borders of the country.

Nana Otuo Siriboe II said, there should be an ‘Implementation of rolling regulatory and review exercise to ensure strict quality compliance of imported items to avoid second-hand products being offered for sale’.

This, according to the him has even affected the oil palm industry where there are so many adulterated imported ‘cooking oil’ refined from the bi-product of palm oil and sold to the consumer as edible oil at a cheaper cost.

“You go to the market and see foreign imported ‘cooking oils’ which are nothing but a bi-product of a palm oil refinery which is being sold to Ghanaians as refined edible oil. This is of poor quality, therefore, cheaper and the Ghanaian woman will go for the price as against quality and they should be saved from consuming unwholesome food products that are brought into the country,” he emphasised.