ANTI-PIRACY TASK FORCE CLOSED PIRATED AFRICAN PRINTS SHOPS @ MOKOLA MARKET IN ACCRA

Business activities at the 31st December Market at Makola was this morning disrupted, when the anti-piracy task force stormed the market to seize pirated wax prints.

 The police arrested and detained two traders, who resisted attempts by the task force to search their shops. The cloth sellers consequently locked up their shops after the exercise, fearing the task force might return.

Joy News' Manasseh Azure Awuni, who visited the market, reported that the task force was made up of personnel from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), police and players in the textile industry.

The exercise by the task force is in fulfillment of the mandate assigned them four years ago, to clamp down traders, who bring pirated textiles into the country.

The task force blamed the activities of pirated textiles on the reason why the local industry is not flourishing.

Speaking to Joy News, John Kwasi Amoah, Assistant Manager of the Akosombo Textile Limited (ATL), noted that the task force has seen lots of pirated textiles on the market.

He noted that the traders do pirate the logos of indigenous local manufacturers outside the country and bring them into the country for sale.

This, Mr. Amoah said is against the copyright law of the country.

Meanwhile, traders at the market confirmed that most of the textiles on the market are from China as a result of what they claimed is "trade liberalization", in which anybody could put up for sale, products of any textile manufacturer.

The traders, who admit that the textiles made in Ghana are more expensive than that of China,  further indicating that people buy according to what they could afford.

Additionally, they noted that the textiles from  China enter the country through the boarders as import duties are consequently paid to government.
Source: Myjoyonline.com