Task force destroys pirated local textiles

16/11/2010

Story: Musah Yahaya Jafaru
FOUR thousand four hundred yards of pirated Ghanaian textiles were yesterday burnt to ashes by the joint tax force on seizure and destruction of pirated Ghanaian textile prints at Tema.
The pirated textiles, which were imported from China, were seized at warehouses and on the market in parts of Accra by the tax force.
The pirated textiles had GTP and ATL trademarks and the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) logo on them.
The chairman of the joint task force, Mr Appiah Donyina, who supervised the destruction of the textiles, said some Ghanaian importers connived with Chinese manufacturers to manufacture the textiles.
He claimed that the pirated textiles were of low quality and so were cheaper compared to the original ones.
According to him, the pirated textiles had recent designs, and indicated that the local collaborators were able to steal new designs and have them pirated in China within two weeks.
Mr Donyina, who is also the acting director of Import-Export of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said the importers brought the pirated textiles to the country from Lome, Togo, through unapproved routes.
He indicated that activities of the importers of pirated textiles affected the about 100,000 people engaged in the production of cotton, manufacture and sale of original textiles in the country.
Mr Donyina said the task force would “search everywhere” to seize the pirated textiles to protect the intellectual property of local textile manufacturers.
He said the destruction of the pirated textiles was in line with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the PNDC Law 330, which states that; “Anything which has been seized and forfeited to the Republic under this law shall be disposed of in such a manner as the Commissioner of CEPS may direct”.
The joint task force, in October this year, destroyed 4,700 yards of pirated textiles.
Mr Donyina said the task force had seized some of the pirated textiles from Sunyani, Mankesim and Agona Swedru, and arrangements were underway to destroy them.