Unilever urges Standards Board to control counterfeit products

Tema, July 22, GNA - The Chief Executive Officer of Unilever Ghana Limited, Mr Charles Cofie, has called on the Ghana Standard Board (GSB) and other authorities to control the inflow of counterfeit products onto the Ghanaian market.

Mr Cofie said curbing smuggling and counterfeiting must be critically handled by the appropriate authorities as Ghana has gradually become a destination for sub standard products. Allowing inferior goods including medicines, food products and clothing onto the Ghanaian market projects gave bad image for the country since people would presume that criminal activities are permitted in the country. The Unilever CEO said this when members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism paid a working visit to the company in Tema on Monday. He described imitation in trade as a dangerous phenomenon that was crippling the activities of genuine producers, explaining that consumers lose trust in the products as they cannot easily differentiate between genuine and counterfeit products. Apart from cheating the licensed producers and customers, government is also deprived of revenue due to the evasion of taxes by such business organizations.

Dr Gladys Norley Ashitey, Deputy Minister for Health and Member of Parliament for Ledzokuku, spoke about health implications of using counterfeit products and reiterated the need for stringent measures to be taken to rid the Ghanaian market of such products. Mr Joseph B. Dankwa, Chairman of the Committee and MP for Abuakwa North, said the visit was in relation to the Committee's task of gathering relevant information that would enable parliament to formulate laws to promote the oil palm sector of the economy. Mr Dankwa said the committee had already inspected oil palm plantations in the country during the past 10 days. Mr Stephen Larbi, Unilever Production Manager in-charge of soaps, led the MPs to tour the factory and said palm oil constitute 60 percent of the elements used in soap production and that his outfit uses 70,000 metric tonnes of palm oil per annum to produce soap. 22 July 08