Crime officers say they are poised to enforce the country’s trademark laws and crack down on activities of counterfeiters.
Counterfeiting does not only deprive the country of revenue of taxes but affects indigenous businesses by posing unfair competition to local products.
The police have not been successful in tackling the phenomenon because of the lack of capacity.
But, Deputy Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department, ACP Dennis Abade says the challenge is being addressed to effectively deal with the menace.
He spoke to Joy Business at a seminar organized by electronics firm, Sollatek.
“We have put the law to the test as enforcement for the past 10 years has shown that there are some bottlenecks, as a result, the law was amended in 2014. These dynamics has changed with the enforcing counterfeit laws in Ghana,” he noted.
He explained that this is because it addressed international registration of trademarks as well as seized goods by law enforcers are handled during investigations and prosecution.
“In the previous law Act 664, the goods can only be disposed off, confiscated to the state or forfeited to the state only after the trial. In the new law once we begin investigatuins abd we are prosecuting, we can apply to the court to give us an order to destroy,” he said.
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