The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has expressed disapproval over government's decision to restrict the importation of 22 selected goods into the country. 

The Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T. Hammond, aims to present a Legislative Instrument before Parliament to limit the importation of items such as rice, poultry, sugar, tripe, and more, with the goal of promoting local production.

However, the proposed regulation has encountered opposition from the Minority Caucus in Parliament and various stakeholders in the trade industry. 

The main point of contention revolves around the permit required for importing the specified items.

Appearing before the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament on Tuesday, 5 December 2023, the President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng, emphasised the importance of achieving self-sufficiency in food production before implementing such a policy.

“We have to move slowly while we are trying to achieve self-sufficiency and do the right things. What is the threshold that qualifies a product to be restricted? Are we talking about 60 per cent or 40 per cent of production? 

“We have not been given all this information, and that is why we have called that instead of putting any impediment on trading, they should ban whatever they want to ban, and we will know that the product is banned, but putting restrictions on us because we just want to import to meet demand is uncalled-for," Dr. Obeng stated.