The Ministry of Trade and Industry has held a second national engagement forum with textile wholesalers and retailers to discuss the implementation of the Textiles Tax Stamps Policy.
The engagement follows an earlier one with importers on May 27, 2022, in Accra. It is part of the preparations for the policy's launch and implementation before the end of the year.
The goal of the engagement, according to sector Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen, was to "sensitize and educate the public, particularly industry dealers, on the introduction/implementation of textiles tax stamps as part of the government's commitment to addressing the challenges of the textiles industry as well as developing the sector to harness the significant gains the sector stands to offer."
He disclosed that there is an annual demand for African prints of 120 million yards, of which only about 35% (42 million yards) are produced locally. The remaining 65% are imported.
Mr Kyerematen said the local textile industry had been very active for the last three decades, but that the proliferation of counterfeit designs and clear violations of local textile manufacturers' trademarks have been identified as the major factors that have negatively impacted the Ghanaian textile industry.
To address the issue, he noted that the Ministry implemented six policy measures in 2018 as part of the Industrial Transformation Agenda of the government.
The measures include the introduction of textiles tax stamps, the introduction of designated entry corridors (Tema Port and Aflao Border for textile imports), and import management systems, engagement in effective market monitoring and surveillance by encouraging foreign textile manufacturers to establish or relocate production facilities in Ghana.
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He was confident that these policy measures would result in the development of local textile firms, and reduce the import of pirated textiles by encouraging local manufacturing.
The Minister assured stakeholders that, despite the implementation of the measures, importation would continue to be permitted because the country does not currently have the local manufacturing capacity to meet the total national demand of more than 120 million yards per year.
He was optimistic that the policies would help to streamline textile imports and ensure that all players in the textile industry stood to benefit.
The roll-out of the textiles tax stamps has been scheduled for November 1, 2022, and the implementation modalities shall include having textiles stamps affixed on all textile prints traded in Ghana.
