THE ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), has stated that it is not against the importation of textiles into the country but rather the copying of designs of Ghanaian textile manufacturers, an act which infringes on intellectual property rights and deprives Ghanaians of jobs.A statement signed by the acting Director of Communication and Public Relations of the MOTI, Nana Akrasi Sarpong, in reaction to a demonstration by the Cloth Sellers Association against a task force established by the ministry to seize pirated wax prints last Thursday said: “We recognise that it is important and desirable for consumers to have access to competitively priced products and also have choices.
However, the ministry is against the copying of the Ghanaian textile manufacturers’ designs and essentially infringing on their intellectual property rights.”
“This deprives Ghanaian manufacturers who give jobs not only to their direct employees but also all Ghanaians involved in the sale and distribution of their products of the benefit and reward of their investment,” the statement further said.
It said it was for that reason, that a task force which comprised representatives of the Cloth Sellers Association, the unions, the local manufacturers, the Ghana Standards Board, the revenue authorities, the Police Service and the ministry was established to seize and burn publicly pirated textiles.
“We wish to point out, however, that the Task Force of the Ministry of Trade and Industry does not get itself involved in the confiscation of textiles for evasion of payment of duties but it has and will continue to deal with the issue of pirated textiles,” the statement said.
It said textile products which were found to be pirated were not returned because those who copied the designs of local manufacturers such as Ghana Textiles Printing (GTP), Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL) and Printex Ghana Limited, were trying to make profits off the back of companies which had invested in product development, manufacturing, advertising and promotion and essentially would be trying to reap where they had not sown.
“Government cannot allow the undermining of the businesses of these industries through such illegal activities”, it added.
It said previous attempts by the ministry to deal with the situation by seizing and distributing the products to the disadvantaged in society had not been able to solve the problem, hence, the current measures to address the situation.
It debunked allegations made by the Makola Cloth Sellers Association that all attempts to see the minister, Miss Hannah Tetteh, had been met with excuses and said the minister initially arranged to have a meeting with members of the association on Monday, August 29, 2011, but had to reschedule the meeting for the next day due to a meeting she had to attend at short notice.
The statement further noted that the Cloth Sellers Association responded by saying that they also had a meeting and, therefore, could not attend the meeting as scheduled.
“Therefore, to state that the minister was not ready to meet them was most unfortunate,” the statement said.
The statement further encouraged members of the association and other distributors to purchase their products either from accredited distributors of local manufacturers, which were likely to be genuine and safe, or directly from the manufacturers in order to avoid embarrassment.
“We need to encourage fairness and equity in the business environment to continue to make it an attractive business destination for investors into the sub-region.
We also need to ensure that we deal with the menace of counterfeit and substandard products to protect Ghanaian consumers,” the statement said.
Earlier, dealers in Chinese wax prints at the Makola market staged a demonstration against the Joint Anti Piracy Task Force of the MOTI, reports Della Russel Ocloo.
According to members of the Cloth Sellers Association, the action of the anti-piracy task force was not only an infringement on their rights as citizens, but one that deprived them of their livelihood.
The more than 1000 members who staged the demonstration at the market last Thursday expressed displeasure at the seizure of their goods by the task force without any notice, and the accusation that they sold pirated textiles which had the trademarks of local manufacturers.
In a bid to demonstrate their frustration, some wailed uncontrollably while others rolled on the bare ground.
Holding placards with inscriptions such as, “Mr President, Makola adwuma yi ara na ye didie” to wit: “This is our only source of livelihood,”We need peace at Makola,” “Our market is not the border post,” among others.
They accused officials of local textile manufacturing companies of colluding with personnel from industries in China to use the Internet to copy their designs.
Addressing a press conference after the demonstration, the leaders of the group said much as they agreed that the local companies needed to be in business to curtail unemployment in the country, the imitation of local trademarks by the Chinese and Togolese companies could not be blamed on them.
‘’We are convinced that workers of the local industries and their external links across the globe are in some sort of collaboration where they scan designs and sell to factories at expensive cost’s”, said the Secretary of the association, Madam Effie Tsiquaye.
According to her, members of the association traded in the ''High Target, and Auden designs, which were manufactured in China using non-harmful chemicals which had been certified by the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) as acceptable in cloth manufacturing.
‘’Thus, claims by the task force that the Chinese fabrics were manufactured using some 28 banned chemicals is false information meant to cause disaffection for traders in the eyes of the consuming public’’, she stated.
She also denied that her group was involved in pirating designs of local manufacturers, and said the designs on the cloth they often ordered in most cases were about 200 years or 300 years old and could not be the property of any local manufacturing company.
“So fake imports labeled with the latter’s trademark are never the handiwork of the association nor its suppliers,” she said.
Madam Tsiquaye also accused the ministry of failing to address the numerous complaints of harassment by the task force lodged with its officials while several attempts to meet with the minister, Miss Hannah Tetteh, on the issue were met with unfavourable responses
She charged the task force and the ministry to direct its anti piracy activities to the door steps of the GSB which approves such designs and chemicals for the manufacture of the cloth.
Sounding a note of caution to the task force, Madam Tsiquaye said the association would resist any attempt to deprive them of their livelihood, and “we will continually chase the group out any time and day they attempt harassing us”.
Source: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Sept 6, 2011
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