FAQs

General

1. When did you establish Ghana’s Standards and Labeling (S&L) Programme and started implementing compliance?

Ans: Ghana’s Standards and Labeling programme started in 2005 with a regulation on non-ducted air conditioners and self-ballasted fluorescent lamps (L.I 1815). This was soon followed in 2009 on regulations for household refrigerators.
2. What agency(-ies) is responsible for ensuring energy efficiency policy enforcement? How

Ans: Enforcement of Energy Efficiency is coordinated by Energy Commission, Ghana standards Authority and Ghana Revenue Authority – Customs. These agencies collaborate with various roles. Ghana Standards Authority for testing, Energy Commission for enforcing the regulation and Customs by assisting as the designated agency at the various port of entries.
3. Why did you focus on compliance and have put effort in building robust compliance programme? What were key aspects that were important in building your programme? What were the lessons learned?

Ans: We focused on compliance because it was a sure way to access the success of the programme and also to give confidence to the consumer on the type of products in the market. We had to build a good data collection structure and also monitoring and enforcement strategy.
4. Have you seen change in industry compliance at the beginning of the programme and now? If yes, what were key aspects that helped to shift compliance levels?

Ans: Yes, there has been significant changes. For eg, Ghana’s appliance market for refrigerators was dominated by used refrigerators. With standards and labeling, that has changed with new appliances now being imported and most importantly, bearing the labeling requirement indicating they meet the minimum energy performance standard.
5. What are main challenges that you face today in implementing compliance with energy efficiency policies?

Ans: Some of the challenges has to do with the political and cultural interference. However, these have been managed to the barest minimum.

Conformity Assessment

6. Can you walk us through the process of what the importer has to do/what steps to take in order to sell regulated products (e.g. refrigerators, ACs) in Ghana?
Ans:
- Identify the brand(s) and model(s) of refrigerating appliances you intend to import into the country
- Identify the factory you intend to purchase or source your refrigerating appliances from
- Request for THIRD PARTY Energy Efficiency Test Report IEC 62552:2007/2015 from the factory covering the brand(s) and model(s) you intend to import
- Submit the third party energy efficiency test report(s) to the Energy Commission in both hardcopy addressed to the Executive Secretary, Energy Commission, PMB Ministries, Accra and in softcopy to the email address eereport@energycom.gov.gh
- Pick up an official letter from the Commission indicating the “Star Rating” of the appliances
- A soft version of the approved label with a QR embedded, will be emailed to you to print out Energy Efficiency Labels for your appliances
- Liaise with the factory you are sourcing from to stick the energy efficiency labels on both the appliance and the carton before shipment
- At the point of entry (Tema & Takoradi Port), alert the Energy Commission Officials on duty of the arrival of the goods/consignment
- Cooperate with the Energy Commission Officials as they crosscheck the details of your appliance with the documentation you submitted
7. From the regulator perspective, what are the processes to ensure that non-compliant products do not get into Ghana?

Ans: By setting regulation on prohibition of import and sale of such products. Ghana has such regulations in place.
8. How do you use the product database for conformity assessment at the border? What value it provides?

Ans: All models regulated by Energy Commission are entered into a database after inspection. There is also a database which has been populated into a mobile App for verification of label information on imported regulated appliances.
9. What steps you take if the product being imported do not meet regulatory requirements or suspected to be non-compliant?

Ans: Various enforcement actions can be taken including forfeiture and re-export options.

Market Surveillance

10. Can you walk us through your approach to market surveillance and what activities you undertake? What is the strategy? How many How frequently?

Ans: The Energy Commission undertakes periodic market surveillance to inspect appliances sold in the market. We have developed a check list to determine the compliance level of all retail shops we visit. The GPS location of the retail shops as well as the compliance score is updated in the mobile App for customers to make an informed decision.
11. Do the inspectors have authority to enter the premises (e.g. retail stores, warehouses) to conduct product inspections?

Ans: Yes, by the Energy Commission Act (ACT 541), the inspectors can enter the premises. In addition, all the regulation including future ones to be developed give the power to the enforcement Authority.
12. Do you use any tools such as check lists, apps to track market inspection results?

Ans: Yes we have such tool (Check list) and the app which is called the “certified Appliance App” can be downloaded from the google play store for android users.
14. What are the most frequent cases of non-compliance?

Ans: Mislabeling and no test report. But these will be solved with the introduction of the QR code on the labels for the reviewed regulations and future ones.
15. What is your approach to enforcement? What steps do you take to rectify non-compliance? E.g. missing label, product is not registered.

Ans: The check list is made up of a triplicate sheet. Therefore, the enforcement results and remarks is shared with retailer to know exactly what the issues are and the corrective measures.

Testing

16. Do you test products to verify their performance? If you do, what is the process? How do you select the products for testing?

Ans: Yes, we do verification testing. This is done by random sampling of suspected non-compliant products or complaints from consumers on particular models or brands.
17. Do you have cases when the importer does not agree with the verification test results? How you address such issue?

Ans: Yes we do, however, the verification procedure or guideline is clear. When such an issue comes up, a third independent test is ran. These result is then compliant bearing in mind the acceptable tolerance levels. If results confirm the verification from the enforcement agency, the importer is charged with the cost of testing.

Communications

18. Do you publically share information on non-compliant entities and products? How frequently? Are you aware, if consumers find it valuable?

Ans: Consumers find it valuable to share information of non-compliance because it helps them make an informed decision. “Naming and shaming” is an approached adopted by the Energy Commission for such non-compliant brand or models.
19. Do you conduct communication campaigns for the consumers to promote energy efficient products? What approaches/mediums (TV show, social media, ads, etc.) work best in Ghana?

Ans: Yes we do. The main mediums are radio, television, and social media campaigns
20. Have you seen impact of communication campaigns and outreach to consumers on the sales of energy efficient products?

Ans: There has been a significant impact especially with the introduction of the app to help consumers make an informed decision.
21. Have you done any trainings and outreach to importers, manufacturers, retailers to inform them about the S&L programme requirements? Have such outreach increased the compliance?

Ans: Yes we have and they have been very successful to increase the category and type of appliances imported. This has also increased the compliance level of the various products

Impacts

22. Have you assessed compliance programme impacts/benefits (e.g. reduced non-compliance, consumer behavior change, others)? If, yes, what are the impacts/benefits? Who are the main beneficiaries (country, consumers, industry, etc.)?

Ans: As a whole, the country benefits in the overall savings. However, the consumers also benefit by saving some money in their pockets by avoiding high bill payment. Please find links to various reports for the ports and also the market assessment.