Why Ban on Leafy Vegetables Is Another Dent On Ghana’s Image Abroad  

Dr. Akoto Owusu Afriyie, Agric Minister

Accra, Ghana, May 27, 2019//-Ghana’s efforts to push up its agric exports have suffered a jolt following the indefinite ban on leafy vegetables to the international market effective June 1, 2019.

  The country suffered vegetables export ban to the European Union (EU) in 2015 that led to the lost of over $30 million export earnings.

The new ban comes less than two years after the EU ban which was as a result of non-compliance with EU standards on the export of vegetables was lifted.  This time around it is from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA)

With such commendations from the EU market watchers are not enthused about the new ban.  “You invest so much in the farm and there is a ban and you do not have a buyer. If we do not take steps now and check all those things, we are going to face the same problems,” they bemoan.

Aside the many interventions put in place by MoFA to ensure that the business did not suffer another ban in the future, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) additionally, assured that it was putting a programme in place to work with industry partners to provide continuous training for farmers and exporters to keep abreast with trends and requirements of the EU market for fresh products.

However, like the previous ban the situation has been necessitated by “the high level of local interceptions at the exit points; the alarming rate of external notifications, and the new EU directives to all countries to re-provide dossiers to the EU on the management of harmful organisms on some of the above vegetables.”

Signed by the Director of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate of the Food and Agriculture Ministry, the statement banning the exports pointed out that, “We are only five months into the second year, the number of notifications is increasing, and if we are not careful, the European Union will ban Ghana.”

With such recurrence in the business it becomes more unappetising for people outside to take to it. As such the authorities should take a critical look at the business, address the inherent challenges associated with it to make it attractive to the many unemployed youth roaming the streets in search of non-existent white colour jobs.

This is not the first time that the country has been banned. EU in 2015 banned chilies, egg plant, bitter gourd, vegetable sponge and bottle gourd from Ghana after an audit undertaken by the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission detected a high number of interceptions of harmful organisms on some plant products from Ghana.

In a statement lifting the ban on January 1, 2018, the EU said: “Since the beginning of the ban in October 2015, the Ghanaian authorities have taken significant corrective measures to improve the inspection and control system for plant health at exit points, particularly, at Kotoka International Airport.”

“The European Commission congratulates Ghana for reaching this important milestone and encourages Ghana to consolidate the upgraded system and to continue further improvements in the phytosanitary certification system to obtain full compliance with the EU phytosanitary requirements,” it stated.

By Oppong Baah, African Eye Report

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