in the country, he said, “standards are the backbone of a national quality infrastructure”. Mr Darkwa said there was the need for importers to comply with standards to facilitate trade through the promotion of safety, quality and compatibility while helping the domestic market to operate effectively. “Standards increases competitiveness, provide an excellent source of technology transfer to developing countries as well as contributes to basic infrastructure that underpins society including health and environment.” Mr Darkwa noted that there were legislations that banned importation of used goods such as handkerchiefs, mattresses, sanitary wares and underpants for commercial purposes yet such goods were being sold openly on our markets. Quoting section D of the Import Declaration Form (IDF), Mr Darkwa said, “It is the responsibility of the importer to declare all relevant standards applicable to goods covered in the IDF and to advise his suppliers of same.” He advised importers to know the relevant standards of specifications required before committing themselves to importation. Professor Kofi Agyekum of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Ghana, who spoke as an ordinary consumer urged importers to be polite to their consumers by importing acceptable goods which were of good quality and satisfied human needs better. “Politeness means being considerate and having the plight of consumers in mind,” he said. 5 Sept. 08
Source: GhanaWeb
