New tax stamp on textiles coming mid-November

Government has set the middle of November to roll out the new deadline for tax stamp policy on textile products.

This initiative is a new strategy introduced by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Revenue Authority and other stakeholders in the sector to deal with the influx of pirated textiles on the Ghanaian Market.

To this end, the stakeholders are engaging textile dealers and officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority at the various borders and entry points of the country about the new tax stamp.

Speaking with the media after a meeting at Aflao, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Robert Ahomka Lindsay disclosed that all dealers will be given a three months ultimatum from November to clear their old stock or face the law.

He said the committee on the implementation of the program will use the next three weeks for sensitization of officials at the various entry points as well as manufacturers and retailers after which final inputs will be taken.

We're giving ourselves within the next two to three weeks for a broader consultation with manufacturers, traders, and customs officers and among others so that we take their inputs on board" he noted.

A local Consultant GRASCON has been appointed to produce the tax stamps for the exercise.

According to the Ahomka Lindsay "the introduction of the tax stamp on textiles is critical to give buyers the confidence and assurance that they are buying genuine fabric"

The initiative will also ensure that the smuggled imported wax prints which render locally produced ones un -competitive are reduced in the market and the right taxes are paid on them.

A smartphone application will be developed to be used as a platform to check the authenticity of the stamps to be affixed on the various prints in order to differentiate between the genuine and non-genuine products.

As part of the measure, the Tema Port has been declared as the only designated entry point for imported textile materials.

This follows the discovery by the Ghana Revenue Authority that about 70 percent of wax prints on the Ghanaian Market entered the country without the right duties paid on them.

"By this, it would be expected that all imported textiles would be required to enter the country through a single dedicated corridor, the Tema Port which is fitted with all the needed equipment to track and ensure that imported wax prints confirm to the new reforms" The Deputy Minister noted.

The official launch of the textile tax stamp is scheduled for November 14.

From 1st January 2019, the textile task force will begin to confiscate and destroy all wax prints on the market without tax stamp.