Ghana needs specialised court to deal with fake products – GSA boss

The Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Professor Alex Dodoo, is advocating for the establishment of a specialised court to deal with the menace of fake products in the country.

He said the specialised court must be able to adjudicate on issues relating to the influx of fake products on the market throughout the week.

“If you allow bad business to compete with good business, you destroy [the] good business…“ he said.

Prof Dodoo said, “We want a court to try these things. We want to have a quality tribunal at weekends, Mondays, every day. So, that it is specialised. Yes, we need to look at crime which is important, but we all know that crime this day is sophisticated.”

The GSA Director General explained that there is enough data suggesting criminal networks are now diverting their attention from cocaine to “dodgy” products.

“If we bring in bad products, they can kill, they can harm but what really they can also be a means of funding other criminal networks and there is enough data to show that criminal networks are moving from cocaine and others, and they are going into dodgy products.”

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According to Prof Dodoo any further delay in tackling the menace could result in fuelling more criminal activities in the country.

“You name it, if it makes money for them, why not. So, if we fail to act, we will unwittingly be opening up other channels for fuelling much worse criminal activities.”

He made these comments on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday, June, 22, noting that, that was the surest way to protect any product is to develop zero tolerance for fake products.