Africa-Press – Ghana. Officials of the Ghana International Trade Commission (GITC) have met with management of Sunda International, an international manufacturing company operating in Ghana, over unfair trade practices concerns.
The company, which produces diapers, detergents, and sanitary pads, petitioned the GITC over concerns of smuggling and dumping of cheaper substandard baby diapers on the Ghanaian market.
Aside the health risk it poses to consumers, the practice was affecting the local manufacturers, making them less competitive, and threatening the jobs of some 3,700 Ghanaians on the company’s payroll.
In response, the GITC delegation, led by its Executive Secretary, Mrs Mavis Adjei-Kwaa, visited the company to engage management and take a tour of the facilities to have firsthand information on its operations.
Mrs Adjei-Kwaa, in an interview with the media after the meeting, said GITC would initiate investigations based on the petition and engage the Minister of Trade and Agribusiness, Madam Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, to find lasting solutions.
The management of the company said it had to dismantle two of its production lines in 2023 and relocate them to Uganda and Nigeria, a decision that led to 350 job losses.
Mr Wei Ye, the Managing Director of the Ghana Branch of Sunda International, said even though Ghana had been a great country and a popular investment hub for the past years, there was the need for government’s support and guidance to boost the local manufacturing sector.
He called for the increase in import tariffs for finished goods, low tariffs on raw materials for local manufacturing and the curbing of import of goods locally manufactured in excess.
Sunda International, which currently export close to 50 per cent of its finished goods annually, produces two billion pieces of diapers, 150,000 tonnes of washing powder and 400 million pieces of sanitary pads.
GITC is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry established by an Act of Parliament, the GITC Act 926, 2016.
It is to provide for the regulation of the international trade of Ghana in conformity with the rules and regulations of the World Trade System and related matters.
The objects of the Commission include overseeing the compliance of Ghana with international trade rules and regulations and protecting the domestic market from the impact of unfair trade practices during international trade.
It also has a responsibility of ensuring fairness, efficiency, transparency and objectivity in the application of measures affecting international trade among other things.
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