The deputy Minister of Trade and Industry,Mahama Ayariga, has disclosed that a draft legislation on Intellectual Property (IP) will soon be forwarded to Parliament for approval. He said this is to facilitate the fight against Intellectual Property (IP) crimes in Ghana. Speaking at a National Anti-Counterfeiting and Anti-Piracy workshop held in Accra, he said the government of Ghana with support from the US government is currently engaging the services of some consultants to develop the document. The workshop was aimed at building consensus amongst major anti-counterfeiting and piracy stakeholders in Ghana on strategic actions which must be taken to combat the importation, distribution and sale of fake goods in Ghana with focus on legal, regulatory and institution measures. Mr. Ayariga said the government was determined to support and protect the work of both corporate bodies and individuals to enable them to benefit from their work and investment. He explained that the sale and purchase of counterfeit work and especially drugs, affect public health, socio economic development and collapsed of industries; hence, the need to deal with it. He said putting mechanisms in place for the protection of works would inspire others who had plans to follow their footsteps to do so and further generate employment and revenue for the country. He said the workshop was one of the ways being employed to create the platform for the youth, who are the future leaders, to learn and educate their peers and parents to be careful when purchasing goods and employing the service of people. He called on the participants to use the workshop as an opportunity to make contributions toward the draft for the benefit of Ghanaians. A representative from the Musicians Association of Ghana (MUSIGHA), Rev Opoku Asiedu, said it was important to put practical strategies in place to save hard working musicians and producers from phasing out. He said when works are pirated, it leads to unemployment and loss of revenue on the part of the government and called for prompt measures to be put in place. The Chief Executive Officer of Intellectual Property Assert Right Management (IPARM) Limited, Mr. John Assan Benson, blamed the inability of artistes to benefit from their work partly on their refusal to register their work and advised them to desist from that practice. Source: Ghanaian Times