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In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
Trade Minister
calls attention to addressing
technical regulations gaps
Accra, Oct. 6, Ghanadot/GNA - Papa
Owusu Ankomah, Minister of the Trade, Industry, Private
Sector Development and President's Special Initiative, on
Monday called for a central system for technical regulations
to address identified gaps and overlaps relating to
technical regulations.
He said different standards and regulations in excess of
what was needed, could pose technical barriers to trade if
problems identified were not addressed.
The Minister made the call when he opened a two-day training
and awareness workshop on standards and technical
regulations in Accra.
The workshop was jointly organised by Ghana Standards Board
(GSB) and the Trade Ministry with support from the African
Organisation for Standardisation and German-based
Physikalisch-Technisch Bundsansalt (PTB).
The awareness training workshop has stakeholders from the
Ministries, Departments and Agencies, importers and
exporters, manufacturers and industrialists, the judiciary,
Customs and Excise and Preventive Service and the business
community.
Papa Ankoma noted that Ghana's standards and efforts made
towards alignment with international standards and the close
links with international standards had helped reduce the
need for Ghanaian products to be subjected to re-testing on
the export markets.
"As a small export-oriented economy, we cannot afford to be
complacent and must keep abreast with industry trends and
developments. Our standards and quality infrastructure must
continuously evolve to address global concerns that shape
the world's economic landscape. Our enterprises need to
constantly adapt to global changes to remain competitive.”
He said GSB had become the National Enquiry Point for World
Trade Organisation Technical Barriers to Trade and urged
industry and trade sector practitioners to constantly liaise
with GSB to update their knowledge in the area.
Mrs. Charlotte A. Ohene-Manu, a Deputy Executive Director of
GSB, said the current approach to technical regulations by a
number of ministries and regulators was fragmented and
ineffective.
She called on regulators to adopt internationally accepted
good practice for enacting technical regulations, which
include providing for the involvement and control of
independent conformity assessment service providers through
accreditation, enacting regulation in accordance with World
Trade Organisation requirements and impact assessment to
determine the effect of regulation on trade.
Mrs. Ohene-Manu explained that in order to achieve positive
trade balance, the influx of goods and services must be
counter-balanced by Ghanaian goods and services to ensure
competitiveness of Ghanaian products and enhance thorough
standards and technical regulations.
GNA/REA
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