Vegetable exporters to meet EU specification

The Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana (VEPEAG) on Wednesday announced measures to improve on the quality of its products to meet the minimal residual level of the European Union.

The measures include the establishment of a National Development Department for the industry to enforce the ban on the application of dangerous agro-chemicals on crops.

Mr Osa Mensah, Business Development Officer of VEPEAG, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the project would meet the July deadline set by the EU.

He said Care International, an agro-based non-governmental organisation, was financing the project that included the establishment of a 405 hectares vegetable farm at Gyakiti in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region to encourage group farming to facilitate monitoring.

"The Kenya success story is based on group farming," he said. Mr Mensah called on the Ministry of Trade and Industry to back the quality control measures with a legislative instrument to ensure enforcement.

He said VEPEAG exported 2,120 tonnes of vegetables last year compared to 1,340 in 2001, while projections for 2003 were around 2150.

Mr Mensah said lack of cold chain facilities led to post harvest losses since vegetables were highly perishable products.

He said the problem was compounded by the tendency of international business partners to cheat farmers with the flimsy excuse that "their goods were in a bad state."

Mr Mensah recommended to the Trade Ministry to set up warehouses, preferably in Holland and Great Britain for non-traditional exports to ensure effective co-ordination in the vegetable export trade.

"We have been pursuing this for three years now to no avail," he said.

He warned that without such an intervention it would be difficult for exporters to pay back the Export Development Investment Fund (EDIF) allocated to them by the Ministry.

Mr Mensah said the warehousing facility would bring revenue to the government through the charging of agency fees.

He advised exporters to improve on the packaging of their produce and also pursue contracts that dealt directly with the supermarkets.