The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has closed down a local cable and electronic manufacturing plant and a plastic production factory in Accra with a call on manufacturers to comply with the country’s regulations.
Borkams Industries Limited, manufacturers of electrical and electronic products, pipes, ceiling panels, and profiles owned by a Ghanaian located at Agbogba, which had registered with the GSA as an importer, was discovered to have been undertaking cable and LED bulbs manufacturing under no regulation.
The Company was also closed down for operating without certification and for not labelling its products with required information such as product batch numbers, a date of manufacture and expiry, country of origin, the name and address of the producer.
This came to light when officers from the GSA embarked on a market swoop towards sanitizing the Ghanaian market off inferior and substandard products, which has caused serious damages to consumers.
The officers also closed down Ghana Ohuade Company Limited, a Chinese-owned plastic manufacturing company located within Kwame Nkrumah Circle for operating without the certification and for selling products without required labelling.
Mr George Kojo Anti, the Business Development Manager at the GSA, who led the team on the exercise, said the Authority was keen on ensuring that manufacturers complied with the necessary regulations regarding their operations.
He said as part of the Authority’s enforcement mandates; they regularly carried out random checks on factories and sales outlet especially in places where manufacturing and sale of product were taking place.
He said the GSA had only three local manufacturers of cable, which did not include cables from Borkams Industries Limited and that it was strange to have learnt that the defaulting company was producing to the Ghanaian consumer.
Mr Anti said the two companies had violated of the Standards Act, the Legislative Instrument (L.I.1541) on Labelling Requirements and on the use of Certification mark for Ghana.
He said it was for the good of the manufacturer and also for the protection of the consumer that the law required certain key information to be on the label of a product.
He urged consumers to be on the lookout for the GSA certification labels on product before patronizing products such as polybags because they could be chemically and medically harmful when consumed.
Mr James Bortey, the Founder of Borkams Industries Limited, said he had started the process of registering with the GSA as a cable manufacturer but aborted it due to the cumbersome nature of the procedure.
The management of the Ghana Ohuade Company Limited presented receipt of payment made towards certification but could not produce the permit certificate by the GSA for the production.
It was also observed that workers were working in an intense heat mixed with chemicals in the plastic without nose masks or any form of protection from work hazards.
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