Aflao, June 12, GNA - A claims court to pave way for consumers to sue importers and traders over risky and substandard products is in the offing. Mr Ntim Donkor, Acting Director in charge of Trade Facilitation, Ministry of Trade and Industries, (MOTI) announced this at an Importers Forum, on Thursday, at Aflao.

He said the move is expected to make importers more responsible and truthful and to comply with the country's trade regulations. Mr Donkor said the perception among traders that: "Things bought from them are not returnable have to stop."

Mr Donkor, who was delivering an address on the topic, "Destinations Inspection Scheme (DIS)- A Tool for Consumer Protection," said a policy was being developed to ensure the protection of consumers. The forum was organized by MOTI in collaboration with the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and other relevant regulatory agencies.

The forum, whose participants were drawn from the CEPS, the Ghana Shippers Council, and Freight Forwarders Associations, was to tackle challenges thwarting efforts to promote safety and quality of goods. Mr Donkor said the influx of risky and substandard goods, despite the efforts to prevent them, should be a worry for all because of their effects on the consumer, the economy and the environment.

He said the introduction of the Destination Inspection Scheme, to replace pre-shipment inspection, was to check imports at the point of entry to regulate fraud, fiscal evasion and price discrimination. Mr Donkor said sub-standard goods turned to be cheaper, thus undermining local industries and had to be stopped.

He said the DIS Law is being reviewed to include punitive measures such as prosecution and conviction of recalcitrant importers, saying the compliance level was too low.

Mr Donkor, in an answer to a question, said consumer protection could not be sacrificed on alter of trade facilitation and asked CEPS to be more vigilant with even small quantities of goods to detect substandard goods. Mr Kofi Negetey, Director, Inspectorate Division of the Ghana Standards Board, said goods with serious health and safety implications needed to be flagged for proper examination and testing.

He said iron rods imports were to be categorized under High Risk Goods (HRG) to ensure they are sampled and tested for standards. Mr Negetey said electrical cables and gadgets and other HRGs needed also to be marked and labelled for examination.

Mr Isaac Desmond Abbey, Second-in-Command of CEPS, at Aflao, speaking on the role of CEPS in stemming bad trade practices, said smuggling remained a major problem and welcomed the introduction of severe punishment for offenders of trade regulations.

Mr Darlington Bankas, Volta Regional Director the GSB, representing the Executive Director, Dr George Crentsil, said the role of GSB in ensuring imports compliance is to make designated goods suitable and safe for use. He asked stakeholders to assist, saying the effects of bad products are cyclical, affecting everyone in the long term.

An official of CEPS called for the list of all HRGs to serve as guides. The Friction between the GSB and the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) both regulatory agencies, at the entry points and the unofficial fees collected at the frontiers were discussed at the forum.