Textile anti-piracy taskforce to be inaugurated Oct 11

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has revealed it will constitute a taskforce on textiles to address the influx of pirated textiles into the country.

In a statement, the Ministry said it will set aside 11 October, 2017 as the date to inaugurate the taskforce.

The announcement follows a picketing action by workers of the local textiles industry in Accra on Monday, 2 October over the continued delay in setting up the taskforce to help stop smuggling of fake textiles into the Ghanaian market.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry set up the anti-piracy taskforce in 2010 to halt the activities of pirates. The taskforce, which included personnel drawn from the security agencies, the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Union of Traders Association, tackled the problems associated with piracy of the local textile industry.

According to the Textiles, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TEGLU), things were getting better when the taskforce was operational, but since the taskforce stopped its operations, the pirates had returned.

They, therefore, mounted pressure on government to reconstitute the taskforce.

Meanwhile, TEGLU has cautioned government not to impede the work of the taskforce after its inauguration.

Speaking to Class News, General Secretary of the Union, Abraham Koomson, said: “We only expect that come Wednesday, 11 October, they will inaugurate the taskforce. We do not want to witness only the inauguration, but they should allow the taskforce to perform or function and the mandate that will be given to them, they should allow them to exercise that mandate to help the local industry.”