The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has placed an indefinite ban on the export of all leafy vegetables to the international market.
Capsicum (green/bell pepper), Solanum and luffa have also been included in the ban which takes effect from June 1, 2019.
In a statement signed by the Director of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate, the ministry said the suspension was due to “the high level of local interceptions at the exit points.”
“From the beginning of this year to date (23/05/2019), internal interceptions by our officers has risen to 120 and 20 for external notifications”, the statement revealed
It also noted that “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.”
Ghana has had to contend with bans on vegetable exports imposed by the European Union in recent times.
“And as such, we are still on the red list and being monitored closely,” the Ministry said.
“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.”
In 2018, the internal interceptions by Ministry of Food and Agriculture officers was 162 while external notifications were 53 “due to harmful organisms”.
Files from the Daily Graphic contributed to this report
