The Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has introduced a new Standard Operational Procedures for export inspection and phytosanitary certification of vegetables, fruits and plants.

The procedure was part of reforms rolled out to help the country to come out of the ban on some vegetable exports imposed by the European unio (EU).

This was contained in a document made available to the Ghana News Agency at a workshop funded by the Trade Related Assistance and Quality Enabling Programme (TRAQUE) with exporters in Accra.

The affected vegetables; capsicum, solanum species, aubergines and luffa (gourd family) had been intercepted at various entry points in the EU market with pests’ issues.

However, in September 2016, auditors from the Food and Vegetable Office of the European Commission came to the country to review the ban and possibly lift it but unfortunately Ghana did not meet the standards.

Mr Guitian explained that these new Standard Procedures would tackle the inefficiencies in the system highlighted by the audit team from the EU, saying the document addresses general requirements for export, inspection procedure, issue of phytosanitary certificate, investigation of non-compliance and traceability.