The first batch of exports utilising the electronic traceability system implemented by the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) has been successfully undertaken, Head of its Plant Quarantine Division, Prudence Attipoe, has revealed.
Speaking at a stakeholder sensitisation workshop on the e-traceability framework, he stated that the development will result in an increase of competitiveness for Ghanaian commodities on the international market. “I am happy to announce that beginning from September 1 we started exporting with the QR code. So far, we have had two of our farms export successfully, and more are expected to follow,” he remarked.
Despite favourable concessions as a result of the nation being a signatory to the Economic Partnership Agreement, the European Union in September 2015 placed a ban on some vegetables originating from Ghana – citing the presence of toxins and “pest issues” which made the vegetables “unwholesome for their markets and consumption”.
An ensuing audit recommended that a manual coding system to ensure “full traceability of consignments and their lots through all stages of production-handling-transport prior to export” was developed prior to lifting of the export ban in 2018.
Following the manual coding system’s success, PPRSD – with funding from the EU and in partnership with the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) and the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) – developed a digitised e-traceability system to ensure that products are fully traced through their entire value and supply chains.
This, he added, has seen the number of alerts from the EU drop some 97.1% – from a high of 345 in 2015 to under 10 in 2020, a testament to the programme’s efficacy.
Mr. Attipoe further indicated that a tentative timeline has been set for the beginning of 2024, to ensure complete phasing-out of the manual system in favour of the newly-introduced digital system. “It is our hope that by 2023 all exporters will be enrolled on to the new system as we phase out the manual one.”
Offering insight into dynamics of the pilot programme, Mr. Attipoe revealed that his outfit was able to successfully onboard and code 75 farms and their out-growers – with an emphasis on processed products of mango and pineapple, cassava as well as cosmetics, shea-nut and coconut.
“The next category to be enrolled will be the fruit and root and tuber exporters, especially yam. This system will give an edge to most of our exporters as we implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) within the continent,” he explained.
On his part, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at GEPA, Samuel Dentu, charged state and private stakeholders to offer maximum cooperation to ensure success for the initiative. “The collaboration of all key stakeholders, both public and private, is critical to successful deployment of the system. Let us all lend our support to make it happen for the growth and sustenance of the non-traditional export sector of Ghana,” he said.
