The Minister of Trade and Industry, K. T. Hammond, has directed cement manufacturers to secure licences or halt production immediately.

The minister issued the directive last Tuesday to the Cement Manufacturing Development Committee (CMDC), set up last year to regulate the industry, for prompt enforcement.

The directive follows the coming into force of the Ghana Standards Authority’s Manufacture of Cement Regulation, 2023, (L.I. 2480), which mandates existing companies to re-register and secure a licence and prohibits new factories without a licence from operating.

Throwing light on the new regime, the Director-General of the GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, who chairs the CMDC, told the Daily Graphic in Accra that, per the regulation, all the cement manufacturing companies in production without a licence were doing so illegally and committing an offence.

At the moment, none of the cement manufacturers in the country had applied for a licence to operate in accordance with the law, he added.

Section 17 of L.I. 2480 provides that: “(1) A person shall not manufacture cement in the country unless the person has obtained a licence in accordance with these Regulations”.

“(2) A person who contravenes sub regulation (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment of not less than twelve months and not more than two years.”

Regulation

Prof. Dodoo said while the cement manufacturing industry in the country had long operated without any regulation, players in the industry had since the passage of the law been encouraged to comply.

He said the directive by the Trade and Industry Minister had become necessary due to non-compliance and also because of the growing number of manufacturers and the urgent need to protect the environment and consumers by ensuring that only quality cement products were sold in the country.

“Manufacturers have since the coming into force of this law been encouraged to comply with two separate public notices in the Daily Graphic,” Prof. Dodoo said.

The regulation, which came into force this year, seeks to address consumer concerns, including rising cement prices, with a bag currently selling for an average of GH¢105, and promote quality assurance.

“The regulation also allows the production of cement at only approved places so we are protecting the environment and those who are in production at unapproved places would have to relocate to approved places to be able to get the licence,” Prof. Dodoo said.

The GSA Director-General said although the law set up the committee to recommend licensing, among other procedures, the sector minister had the oversight to ensure that everything was done according to regulation.

The Director-General said L.I. 2480 had provided another layer of oversight which made it all inclusive and transparent.

On the re-registration of existing cement manufacturers, Prof. Dodoo said it was to ensure that they met all the quality requirements and where they fell short, they would be given time to comply.

Licence

To secure a licence, Section 18 of the law provides that a person who seeks to manufacture cement in the country shall apply in writing to the minister for a licence.

“An application for a licence under sub regulation shall be made to the Minister in the form as set out in Form Two of the Schedule; and accompanied with a prescribed fee,” the law provides.

Prof. Dodoo said by the instructions of the minister, the committee would begin to take the necessary actions and measures to ensure that existing cement manufacturers complied with the regulations to bring sanity into the space.

Background

In recent years, the GSA, under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and in partnership with law enforcement agencies, has intensified efforts to combat the production of substandard cement by unscrupulous firms operating in the country.

The crackdown has revealed alarming practices, including the unauthorised use of the GSA certification logo and the operation of cement factories without proper permits.

Three companies found to be using substandard raw materials in their cement production in the Ashanti Region were closed down in the last quarter of last year.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry also issued a directive to halt the setting up of new cement factories in the country until the regulation comes into force.

Prof. Dodoo said the situation underscored the absence of robust regulations governing the issuance of permits for establishing cement factories, leaving room for exploitation by individuals seeking to cut corners and compromise quality standards.