Ghana needs a specialized court to deal with fake products, says Prof Dodoo

Prof Alex Dodoo, director-general of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) is advocating for the establishment of a specialized court to deal with the menace of fake products in the country.

The Ghana Standard Authority is optimistic such a specialized court could help in reducing the menace of fake products on the market

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

Speaking to Kojo Mensah on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (22 June), Prof Dodoo said the surest way to protect any product is to develop zero tolerance for fake products.

“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 specialized. Yes, we need to look at crime which is important but we all know that crime this day is sophisticated.”

He said enough data is 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 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.”

He said any further delay in tackling the menace could result in fueling 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 fueling much worse criminal activities.”

SOURCE: ASAASE RADIO ONLINE