Ghana to Establish International Trade Commission

Government is to establish a Ghana  International  Trade  Commission  (GITC), within the course of the year  to enable the   nation   take  advantage  of  the  remedies  on  piracy,  anti-?dumping  and  countervailing  measures.

This was disclosed yesterday by President John Mahama when he delivered his second state of the nation’s address to Parliament in Accra.

According to him “the  overall  effect  of  this  commission  would  be  to  boost  our  domestic  and  international  competitiveness.”

He said globalisation  and  trade  liberalisation  had  brought  in  their  wake  a  number  of  unfair  trading  practices  such  as  dumping of cheap products  by  foreign  exporters, adding the commission would help check the practice.

He also disclosed   that the Free  Zones  Board had  licensed  23  new  companies  that  were  expected  to  generate  more  than  10,000  new  jobs  over  the  next  three  years.

Touching on the  Ghana  Commodity  Exchange  (GCX),    the President said “government  has  committed  itself  to  the  establishment  of  a  Commodity  Exchange  and  associated  Warehouse  Receipt  System  (WRS),”   as  part  of  efforts  to  create  an  orderly,  transparent,  and  efficient  marketing  system  for  Ghana’s  key  agricultural  commodities  to  promote  agricultural  investment  and  enhance  productivity.

In  the  interest  of  regional  solidarity,  President Mahama said “Ghana  is  committed  to  the  collective  position  of  the  Economic  Community  of  West  African  States  (ECOWAS)  in  conformity  with  the  region’s  common  goal.” He was optimistic  that the  process  of  negotiation  between  the  EU  and  ECOWAS    would  be  concluded  in  line  with  Market  Access  Regulations.

He assured that  Government  would  support  the  Ghanaian  industrial  sector in the form of affordable  financial  credit  for  retooling  and  expansion in the area of Ports  and  Trade  Facilitation to  enable  it    generate  jobs,  reduce  poverty  and  increase  manufactured  exports.

Source: ISD