Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says the tax stamp policy is going to be extended to textiles.

According to Emmanuel Kofi Nti, this move by the GRA will help deal with issues faced by the local textile industry including counterfeiting and smuggling of cheap textile to the detriment of the local textile industry. 

“We are to ensure that only certified goods come to the market and that we do not condone pirated goods and smuggled textiles to ensure that the local textiles do not suffer. 

The tax stamps will not only improve revenue generation in the sector but also sanitize it,.” he revealed.

Mr Kofi Nti spoke to JoyBusiness at the presentation of 15 pickup trucks to GRA by the Danish embassy.

The fight against pirated textiles continues to intensify especially by the Coalition of Textile Workers which earlier petitioned the government to double efforts in clamping down pirated textiles on the Ghanaian market. 

Industry players in the textiles industry say the presence of these substandard products on the markets is collapsing local businesses.

Earlier, the Dutch ambassador to Ghana, Ron Strikker, says current counterfeiting of textiles in the country is scaring foreign investors and industry players away. 

The ambassador has revealed that the Ghana Printing Textiles Limited (GTP) which remains on the brink of collapse, can no longer compete with the influx of counterfeit materials from China and neighbouring African countries.

The Excise Tax Stamp Scheme is in accordance with the Excise Tax Stamp Act 2013, Act 873. 

The Excise Tax Stamp is a specially designed digital stamp with security features which will be affixed on specified excisable goods in Ghana whether locally manufactured or imported to show that taxes and duties have been paid or will be paid on them. 

The aim of the policy is to control the importation and local production of excisable goods for revenue purposes, check illicit trading, smuggling and counterfeiting of excisable products, check under-declaration of goods and protect and increase tax revenue.