Finance Minister, Kwabena Duffour says Ghana would not allow its premium brand of cocoa beans to be adulterated by produce smuggled from Ivory Coast. There have been several reports that a lot of cocoa is being transported into Ghana because of a ban on exports by the international community as a measure to deprive incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo of badly needed funds. Cocoa purchases for the season is said to be already nearly fifty percent more than what had been bought for the same period last year, lending credence to suggestions that produce from Ivory Coast could be a factor. The Finance Minister however disagrees. Speaking to the BBC’s World Business Report programme, Dr. Duffuor said the Ivorian crisis on a whole presents a major challenge to the Ghanaian economy. This week’s arrest of a truckload of beans from Ivory Coast, meanwhile is evidence that smuggling is taking place. The Finance Minister, by the way, made it onto the very first edition of the BBC’s new business programme, World Business Report. Source: Joy Business/Ghana