Accra, Oct. 4, GNA – The Ghana Standard Authority
(GSA) and GS1-Ghana, a global organization that specializes in management of
barcodes system, has held a joint workshop on standards and
labelling requirements for local businesses.
The one-day workshop, which assembled
manufacturers and retailers, was aimed at providing an avenue for stakeholders
to discuss issues related to standardisation and labelling requirements to
promote trade.
It was also to help equip the participants on
how to meet standards and labelling requirements especially under barcode
scanning.
Addressing the participants, the Director of
the Inspectorate Division at the GSA, Mr. Kwasi Owusu Boadu, stressed the need
for manufacturers to properly label their products to promote trade
as standardization is critical for imports and exports.
He said the workshop would provide better
understanding on standards and labelling amongst manufacturers to promote
the production and packaging of quality products in the country.
He urged manufacturers to comply with
standards requirements in order to compete favourably.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GS1-
Ghana, Mr. Kofi Essuman, explained that the GS1 standards provide a framework
that allows producers and retailers to operate effectively and securely
for the benefit of their businesses.
He said the most common GS1 standards are the
barcodes, which are symbols that can be scanned electronically using laser or
camera-based systems, used to encode information such as product numbers,
serial numbers and batch numbers.
Barcodes play a key role in supply chains,
enabling parties like retailers, manufacturers, transport providers and
hospitals to automatically, identify and track products as they move
through the supply chain.
Mr. Essuman urged manufacturers to consider
the merits of using barcodes to develop their products, both locally and
externally, despite it not being mandatory.
GNA