The Special Operations Team of the Inspector General of Police has intercepted counterfeit wax prints from Nigeria with imitated designs of Tex Styles Ghana Limited, producers of GTP fabrics.
This follows a tip off received by the special team.
The product, mainly wax prints from Nigeria was smuggled into the country without paying the required taxes to the state.
The exercise forms part of an anti-counterfeit campaign by Ghanaian textile manufacturers and the Ghana Police.
Speaking to journalists, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Tex Styles Ghana, Schandorf Nii Obodai, disclosed that the ceased textiles are worth about GH₵ 20 million.
“When you check all the materials here including the ones in the truck load, it’s about GH₵ 20 million worth of cloth which is just going to enter the local market but for the vigilance of the team”, he said.
He stated that the activities of smugglers affect the nation and tax collection and also adversely impact the operations of legal companies operating in the country.
“This (smuggled goods) can be in the market for about two months even after the festive season and you can imagine the amount of taxes the state may be losing just because of these smuggled items and we as a company will be struggling to sell or produce more for the local market”.
Outlining the negative impact on business operations, Mr. Obodai said the increase in smuggling of fake wax prints is the reason for the collapse of many local textile companies in Ghana.
“The impact of this is deeper than you can imagine because it affects production which turns to have an impact on job for our citizens in Ghana” he said.
He advised the general public to note that GTP does not operate other factories in in Africa, hence any GTP fabrics produced on the continent apart from Ghana are fake and illegal.
“Often traders are being bait with the myth that this is printed by GTP in Nigeria or Côte d’Ivoire. I want to put it on record today, that GTP doesn’t have any factory in Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa producing GTP or Vlisco cloths. GTP cloths are only produced in Ghana but they copy our designs and the stamps to reproduce the imitation products”, he warned.
The Intelligence Unit of the Ghana Police has taken over the investigation to apprehend all perpetrators.