Mr. Michael Okyere Baafi, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry

The Ghana Plastic Manufacturers Association (GPMA) has praised Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr. Michael Okyere Baafi, for his intervention in halting the Association’s planned shutdown on July 10, 2024.

The GPMA explained that Mr. Okyere Baafi demonstrated good faith by assuring the Association’s leadership that he would facilitate further engagements and dialogue to initiate the necessary mechanisms and procedures to stop the implementation of the 5 percent excise tax on finished plastics.

As a result, the GPMA has put on hold its planned shutdown, initially intended to demand the government’s suspension of the tax.

The decision was officially renounced in a statement dated July 8, 2024 and signed by GPMA President Mr. Ebbo Botwe.

The statement also indicated that the GPMA and its partners, including the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers, the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, and the Plastic Sellers Association of Ghana, had a productive meeting with the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Friday, July 5, 2024.

The meeting focused on addressing the concerns surrounding the implementation of the 5 percent excise tax on all locally manufactured plastic products.