The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Consumer Protection Agency (CPA), Mr. Kofi Kapito, on Friday, February 6, 2026, called on the Director-General (DG) of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Professor George Agyei, to congratulate him on his appointment and discuss issues of mutual concerns to consumers.
Mr. Kapito commended the GSA for collaborating with agencies like the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), which he stated, has established clear boundaries in the regulation of the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to prevent overlapping of roles.
He further noted with grave concern the influx of substandard products on the Ghanaian markets and called on the GSA to improve its enforcement and market surveillance activities while collaborating closely with relevant agencies like the CPA to help rid the markets of these products.
“We are getting complaints from people that products sold in some malls and markets are substandard. Also, products like iron rods, cements, electrical cables and other products are still an issue that we have to tackle head-on. Let’s work together and create awareness on the availability of standards to help protect consumers,” he said.
He added that GSA must as a matter of urgency standardise scales in the markets to help in the accuracy of trade which goes a long way in making the economy better.
Prof. Agyei, on his part, expressed appreciation to Mr. Kapito for the broad spectrum of issues raised and assured him that the GSA is on top of the issues and is working assiduously and covertly to rid the markets of substandard products.
He mentioned that plans are in place to deploy more Trading Standards Inspectors (TSIs) into the markets to check for and confiscate substandard products which will help sanitise the markets.
“I can assure you that some steps are being taken to sanitise the markets. As a standards institution, we are committed to helping businesses grow but not at the detriment of the consumer. We are not sleeping on the job despite some constraints in vehicles and financial resources,” Prof. Agyei noted.
He called on the relevant security agencies to collaborate with the GSA to help check the importation and movement of substandard products into the country.
On the issue of the standardisation of weighing scales in the markets, the DG revealed that his outfit is under a ministerial directive to develop a roadmap for introducing scales to the market women.
Prof. Agyei also noted that the CPA is a key partner of the GSA and that the GSA Act permits the Authority to constitute Technical Committees (TCs) to advise the Board on standards related issues so they will look into it and co-opt the CPA on one of the committees to strengthen their partnership.
