Saving Ghana’s Textile Industry

The textile lane behind the TUC building at the City Business centre is specifically dedicated to African prints and the traders are always trying to attract pedestrians to patronize their wares.

The textiles come in a variety of colures, designs and texture. About 150 million yards of African prints worth $250m are sold in Ghana each year.

The shop of Ama Amoah, a trader is filled with assorted textiles including Real Super Wax, Block Print, Super Real Wax, Imitation Wax, Java and Fancy prints embossed with the labels of known textile companies in the country.

Unsuspecting buyers are lured by the cheap prices of these textiles but they do not know that they are buying stuffs that threaten their lives.

Last week, a task force, made up of officials of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and Ghana Police Service destroyed Three-hundred-and-ninety-one full pieces of pirated textiles, worth GH¢200 million which were seized from warehouses and opened markets,.

The pieces of cloth, which were burnt to ashes at the Kpong landfill site, were substandard goods smuggled into the country.

They were pirated textiles with fake patent or registered logos of local manufacturing companies such as the Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL), Ghana Textiles Print (GTP) and Printex which had copied labels of the GS B.

The decision to destroy the pirated fabric was initiated by a taskforce set up by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to curb the importation of pirated Ghanaian textiles.

Before destroying the heap of the textiles which were said to have been imported from China, Anthony Doku, Director of the Research, Planning and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told journalists that the destruction was in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations.

Under the WTO rule, when goods infringe intellectual property rights, trademark, trade name and patent among others, governments are expected to adopt certain special measures to address the issues.

Governments, according to the WTO, should not allow the re-exportation of contraband goods but rather destroy or dispose them off.

The issue of pirating has been identified as a major challenge to the global economy. Governments around the world have used punitive measures to deter both existing and prospective traders from exploiting works that have been done by people through hard work.

“It is incumbent on government to show commitment to protecting and promoting industries and enterprises.

The nation stands to lose a lot if no action is taken,” said Mr Doku.

Prince Arthur, Head of Destination Inspection at the Ghana Standard Boards, explained that examination of the fabrics indicated that they were produced with substandard chemicals.

“They contain the 28 banned chemicals not allowed for the manufacture of textiles such as the CI acid red, CI basic red, CI direct Blue and many others. These chemicals can cause cancer and some skin diseases,” he explained.

Appiah Donyina, chairman of the taskforce, stated that he was convinced that the destruction of such textiles would deter importers from engaging in the business.

He was worried that none of the importers who engaged in the nefarious activities had so far been punished, noting that “They always run away when we track them down.”

On the other hand, Baffour Asare, Chief Collector Preventive, CEPS, explained that in many cases, it was only the drivers of vehicles who transported the pirated fabrics that were arrested and charged for carrying contraband.

In 2005, the then Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen directed that the entry point for all imports of the African prints should be restricted to the Takoradi Port so it could be easy to track the nefarious activities of smugglers who bring in these pirated textiles.

He also directed that the imported African prints, should be subjected to 100 percent physical examination by CEPS and GSB at all entry points.

Industry players welcomed the directive, but unfortunately these directives were ignored and the illicit activities persist to the detriment of the national economy, textile industries and the employees, the union emphasized.

Abraham Koomson, General Secretary of the Textile, Garment and Leather Employers Union, said the drastic decline in operations of the three remaining textile companies would collapse the entire sector.

“When the smugglers are arrested, prosecution becomes a problem and even the products are not destroyed. In Cote d’Ivoire, all the products and their truck vehicles are destroyed.”

Smuggling has escalated in recent times.

Perpetrators have adopted innovative criminal strategies to overwhelm the police.

The once vibrant textile sector of Ghana with textile companies such as Ghana Textiles Manufacturing Company and Tema Textile Limited used to employ 25,000 workers in the 1970s but cheap imports from China which sell at GH¢8, as against local products which sell between GH¢20 and GH¢30 have collapsed the sector.

Sales in the country have declined by between 50% and 75%, as customers buy Chinese copies of locally produced designs.

Mr Koomsoon strongly contended that seized materials should not be sold or auctioned in any way in Ghana, noting that once that was done, it would legitimize the illegal trade.

To him, the flooding of the country with cheap textiles and the high cost of production could force the companies to shut down.

Latter in an interview, distressed John Kwesi Amoah, Assistant Marketing Manager in charge of brand protection at the Akosombo Textiles Limited, a local manufacturing textile company, stated among other things that the importers of the pirated textiles do not only evade taxes on imported textile prints but do not provide adequate labeling information on country of origin.

He noted that based on the price and texture of the print, buyers could distinguish between the substandard and the genuine textiles since the former is cheaper and usually hard while the latter is soft and a little costly.

The wide disparity in the product pricing is due to low energy cost and interest rates as against high cost of raw materials and high interest rates in Ghana. Nevertheless, the Chinese products lack quality and fade quickly.

Since the burning of the pirated fabrics, stakeholders in the local textile industry and well-meaning Ghanaians have appealed to the Minister of Trade and Industry to sustain the exercise and enforce existing laws without delay.

They believe that the nation is on the right track to stopping to the activities of nation-wreckers.

By Emelia Ennin Abbey