Create a Level Playing Field-GPPCA urges government

GUTA (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah

THE Ghana Printers and Paper Converters Association (GPPCA) has called on the government to create a level playing field for locally printed books to compete on favourable terms with imported ones.
The association said the present situation where textbooks imported into the country were exempted from all taxes, locally printed ones attracted 32.5 per cent tax on inputs for the production of the books, which according to the association was discouraging and could kill the local industry.
Presenting its input to the 2008 Budget statement at a forum in Accra yesterday, the Executive Secretary of the association, Mr William E. Turkson, stated that the government’s offering of protection to imported books was making it impossible for local printers to compete, a situation which was adversely affecting the industry.
Mr Turkson stated that aside the uncompetitive nature of the local printing companies, revenue from taxes was lost to the country as a result of this policy.
The association therefore called on the government to revisit its obligations under the UNESCO convention that gives the government the mandate to suspend an agreement if importation of books was causing dislocation of the local industry which dealt in the production of similar products.
He said “the government should treat the imported books and textbooks the same way as the locally produced books as stipulated in the UNESCO agreement.
He said foreign printers must also be made to pay customs duties and Value Added Tax (VAT).
Mr Turkson also called for the strict enforcement of the policy on the production and distribution of textbooks, which states that 60 per cent of all books should be produced locally.
For their part the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has called on the government to amend the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) to include support for local industries in order for them to produce for the local market.
The acting President of the association, Mr George Kwaku Ofori, said the EDIF fund should be extended to traders who imported foreign goods to encourage them to produce for the local market.
“This will not only encourage traders to venture into manufacturing but will also enable most of them to easily graduate to the manufacturing sector”, he stated.
Mr Ofori also called for the effective campaign on made-in-Ghana goods to generate a lot of support and encouragement for locally made goods.
He said “we believe that if the government sets up a special credit scheme for only traders who deal in goods manufactured in the country, it will attract more people into the local production sector of the economy.’’
Mr Ofori suggested the establishment of trading centres in the country to market made-in-Ghana goods, adding that “ this will not only attract tourists, but will also showcase the capabilities of Ghana’s industrial sector to project the country and also increase the sale of locally produced goods.’’