Government has henceforth banned the export of Solanum, Capsicum, luffa and all other leafy vegetables to the international market effective June 1.

In a statement by the Agric Ministry signed by the Director of Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate, Dr Felicia Ansah-Amprofi explained why the indefinite ban has become necessary.

“The high level of local interceptions at the exit points, an alarming rate of external notifications, and the new EU directives to all countries to re-provide dossiers to the EU on the management of harmful organisms on some of the above vegetables,” she said.

According to the statement, Ghana recently came out of a ban on vegetable exports imposed by the European Union, “and, as such, we are still on the red list and being monitored closely”.

The Ministry is worried that although “We are only five months into the second year, the number of notifications is increasing, and if we are not careful, the European Union will ban Ghana.”

Dr Ansah-Amprofi disclosed that in 2018, “internal interceptions by our officers amounted to 162 while external notifications were 53 due to harmful organisms.”

“From the beginning of this year to date (23/05/2019), internal interceptions by our officers has risen to 120 and 20 for external notifications”, the statement added.

The Food and Agric Ministry says it is using the suspension period to address all possible loopholes and challenges before the resumption of the export of leafy vegetable.