Businesses call for G-CAP to be scrapped

The business commu­nity has asked the Ghana Standards Authority to completely

cancel the proposed Ghana Conformity As­sessment Programme (G- CAP).

They argue that the G- CAP will increase the cost of imports, which will be passed

on to consumers, and cannot achieve its tar­geted aim of clamping down on fake

and substan­dard goods imports.

They argue that what G- CAP seeks to achieve are already being done, and only

strict enforcement of the current law can clamp down on fake goods, not

in­troducing G-CAP.

The businesses making the call are the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana

(FABAG), the Asso­ciation of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ghana Union of Traders

Association (GUTA), Ghana Automo­bile Dealers Association(GADA), Ghana

Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Ghana Shippers Authority, Ghana

Pharmaceutical Chamber of Commerce, Private Enterprise Federa­tion (PEF), and

Ghana Im­ports and Exporters Association.

“In any case, Ghana ranks higher than all the African countries practicing the G-

CAP in terms of re­stricting counterfeit and sub-substandard goods, and what do

we stand to gain by going there?” Mr John Awuni, a member of FABAG, said.

According to them, the introduction of G-CAP would only make Ghana less

competitive in the ease of doing business, which will further plummet the

economy.

To buttress his point, he said Ghana is currently ranked 67th in the world in terms

the ease of doing business, far better than countries such as Nigeria, Burundi,

Tanzania and Uganda that are implement­ing G-CAP. For example, he said Nigeria,

Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda ranked be­tween 125th and 150th in the world,

and wondered if that would rather not mar Ghana’s ease of doing busi­ness.

Mr Awuni said “G-CAP is time-consuming, problem­atic, expensive and will wipe

out the small and medium-scale traders who buy mixed goods from the open

market as additional cost will be shifted to them.”

He explained that imple­mentation of G-CAP would also be duplicated as they

were already using the des­tination inspection regime.

Mr Awuni, who is also the Corporate Affairs Direc­tor of the FINATRADE Group of

Companies, rec­ommended to government under the Ghana Standards Authority

to enforce laws by arresting and prosecuting people engaged in the trade of

substandard goods.

He appealed to them to develop “and harmonies standard in the sub-region

conduct research on the levels and kinds of substan­dard goods in the country

and improve and strengthen border controls.

Mr Awuni explained that based on export figures for 2013, SGS and BIVAC, which

have been appointed by GSA to do the inspec­tion, would make about $90 million

a year and give GSA about 20% of the amount.

Mr Kofi Amponsah-Bediako, Head, Public Rela­tions at the Ghana Standards

Authority argued that G-CAP would reduce, if not eliminate, fake and substandard

goods imports.

He explained that in­specting goods in the coun­try of origin would ensure that

fake and substandard goods imports do not enter the country.

The G-CAP, which was proposed to become opera­tional on October 1 this year,

had to be suspended on account of teething chal­lenges within stakeholders and

the implementation bodies.