The Ministry of Trade and Industry, Government of Ghana, has suspended the operations of the Anti-Piracy Task Force constituted to seize and destroy pirated textiles. The Task Force has been suspended for the time being to streamline its operation at a meeting of all stakeholders, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry told the Ghana News Agency.
After a meeting of all the stakeholders, the Task Force would be reviewed and evaluated so that the local industries are protected. The Minister’s statement came a day after the Task Force confiscated 1,035 pieces of pirated textiles at the 31st December market in Accra.
The confiscated textiles included both fancy and wax prints of pirated logos of Ghanaian textile printing companies ‘Pirated’ textiles is a major problem affecting the Ghanaian textile industry. The term is used to denote those textile products that are an imitation of traditional Ghanaian textile designs and are available at lower prices. The Task Force was first set up in August 2010 and was reconstituted earlier this year. It comprises of representatives of textile companies, the Police, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.