Ambassador: “EU Not Banning Ghana’s Cocoa”

The European Union Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaarly has debunked reports that cocoa from Ghana will be banned from the European market with the passage of the new law.

Speaking at the Orange Cocoa Day 2022 in Accra, he said the Union wants more of Ghana’s cocoa.

“There is no ban on Ghana’s cocoa. On the contrary, we want more of Ghana’s cocoa, and we are in support of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire amongst all of the producers who meet these requirements”, Citinews quotes him to have said.

He explained that the call for more sustainable cocoa production is growing globally, thus the establishment of the legislation.

“And our citizens in Europe are increasingly demanding measures for ensuring that cocoa and other commodities are produced in a socially environmental sustainable way. This explains EU’s legislation on afforestation and forest degradation and must not be seen as a threat to Ghana’s cocoa”, he said according to Citinews.

On September 30, the Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah announced that the legislation established by the EU could render the cocoa beans and coffee of Ghana unexportable in a tweet.

“In Europe, there is a new legislation that could soon make Ghanaian cocoa & coffee unexportable to many International markets.

“Earlier this week in Brussels, I chaired a 2-day forum on ”the future of Ghanaian cocoa and coffee value chains in the face of this new EU legislation”.

“The Ghana Embassy in Belgium under the leadership of Ambassador Sena Boateng has moved swiftly to bring this to the attention of the Government of Ghana. It has also commenced work on realigning Ghanaian and European interests in cocoa and coffee.

“Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire need to act quickly to secure the industry while meeting the interests of European markets else millions of households and our entire economies could be significantly affected soon. Thankfully, this work has started. Our task is to see it through”, he tweeted.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini