Private sector operators in the Greater Accra region will embark on a day’s strike tomorrow in protest against the proposed implementation of the Ghana Conformity Assessment Programme (G-CAP) and the Advance Shipment Information.
The strike is also to express their displeasure about the unfavourable business environment in the country.
A statement issued by the Joint Private Sector Consultative Business Forum, said all businesses and industries in the capital, Accra would be closed to the general public.
According to the Forum, there will be no demonstration on that day.
It however said all members would converge on the offices of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) in red attire to discuss their next line of action.
Some private sector groups, whose members will embark on the strike tomorrow, include the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ghana Automobile Dealers Association, Food and Beverages Association of Ghana and the Ghana Union of Traders Association.
The rest are: Importers and Exporters Association, Ghana Pharmaceutical Chamber, Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Customs Brokers Association of Ghana and Freight Forwarders Association of Ghana.
Opposition to G-CAP, ASHI
The private sector businesses have vehemently opposed the introduction of the Ghana-Product Conformity Assessment Programme and the Advance Shipment Information System (ASHI) and a tax stamp by the Ghana Shippers Authority (GSA).
According to them, the implementation of the G-CAP and ASHI will bring additional costs to businesses in Ghana.
Even though the government has suspended the introduction of ASHI and G-CAP, the Forum has called for the total abolition of the two programmes.