GSA, Graphic partner to clamp down on substandard products

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) is to embark on an intensive programme aimed at clamping down on substandard products on the local market.

In line with that, the institution has called on the public, agencies and the media to partner the GSA to effectively roll out its intended programme in all the 10 regions.

The Director-General of GSA, Professor Alex Dodoo, made the call when he paid a courtesy call on the acting Managing Director (MD) of Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), Mr Ransford Tetteh, in Accra on Thursday, February 22, 2018.

The purpose of the visit was for the management of GSA to explore avenues for partnership with the GCGL in the delivery of its mandate.

Worrying trend

Prof. Dodoo described the rise of substandard products on the market as a major worry that needed to be addressed urgently else any attempt to boost the local economy would be jeopardised.

“How can the government roll out the one-district, one-factory initiative if the local market is flooded with inferior goods? We need to sanitise the market now, and that is what we plan to do,” he said.

Prof. Dodoo stated that almost all the business sectors had been inundated with inferior products, adding “seamstresses are now complaining about substandard tapes and zips on the market.”

According to him, the GSA would be grateful if the GCGL would assist the authority to hold a stakeholder engagement event that would bring together players in the media industry to discuss how to address the issue.

Prof. Dodoo also asked GCGL to use its medium to hold the GSA accountable to help the authority stay focused on its activities.
Graphic poised

In his response, Mr Tetteh indicated that the GCGL was prepared to do everything within its mandate to ensure that the right thing was done by state institutions.

He said the company had over the past years, used its media platforms to bring to the limelight issues affecting national development, adding “the company will continue this cause because it is constitutionally mandated to do so.”

Concerning the infiltration of inferior products, Mr Tetteh noted that some people had walked to the company to complain about the quality of goods on the markets.

He gave an assurance that the company would open its doors and partner with GSA to ensure that substandard products were taken off the local markets.