Ghana acts to curb Ivorian cocoa smuggling

By Vincent t'Sas

ACCRA, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Ghana has tightened up cocoa quality controls in a bid to curb the smuggling of low-quality cocoa beans from neighbouring Ivory Coast, an official at the Quality Control Division of Ghana's Cocoa Board (Cocobod) said.

The smuggling into Ghana of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of Ivorian 1998/99 (Oct/Sept) mid-crop led to the early closure of Ghana's 1998/99 season, on August 5.

``To prevent that happening again, we have instructed our staff. They know what to look for, they know what to reject,'' the official told Reuters.

Farmers in Ivory Coast, which recently liberalised cocoa marketing, are only getting 225-250 CFA francs ($0.36-0.40) per kilo, half the price farmers get in Ghana, where the government still sets a farmgate price, currently 2,250 cedis ($0.72).

An Ivorian farmer in Manoukan-Kro, on the Abidjan-Accra road near the Ghanaian border, told Reuters on Saturday that local buyers had tried unsuccessfully to sell two truckloads of cocoa beans in Ghana last week.

Last week they sent two trucks there but they (the Ghanaians) said cocoa was no good, Ebenezer Kofi said. He added that the beans had been rejected because of the number of smoky beans, the result of drying on wood fires.

``But now we are drying in the sun,'' Kofi said.

``So we may try and send them (sun-dried beans) to Ghana,'' Kofi, who is of Ghanaian descent, said.

Cocobod's Quality Control Division (QCD) is confident that the smuggling will be contained.

``We have 1,400 quality control officers all over Ghana,'' the QCD official said.

``In Ivory Coast quality control is centred at the port. Our control starts at the buying centre, that is practically at the farmgate, so we are able to nip everything in the bud,'' he said.

``After that there is a second check at the provincial depots. If they find out there that rubbish has been sealed, they reject that bag and it is sent back to the buying centre.''

After passing quality control, cocoa bags in Ghana are closed by the controlling officer with a special seal.

Ghana's cocoa fetches a premium -- at times as high as 45 pounds over LIFFE -- for its excellent quality, while Ivorian cocoa sells at a discount of around 20 pounds under LIFFE.

``When a bag arrives at the port there is a last check before it is put in the vessel. Very few bags are rejected, about 90-95 percent goes through,'' the official said.

He stressed that smuggling of Ivorian beans was not a new problem and it should not be blown out of proportion. ``Smuggling goes on every year, either way. We know how to deal with it.''

($ - 630 CFA francs, $ - 3,140)