Accra, May 7, GNA - Ghana wants the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) and non-European communities involved in the cocoa trade to set out a standardised method of testing cocoa bean exports in order to protect the integrity of the crop, a top industry official said on Wednesday.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Tony Fofie, a Deputy Chief Executive of Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), said there was need for a harmonised testing methodology in order to have a harmonised quality rating.

"We need all the main players - COPAL (Cocoa Producers' Alliance), the ICCO and especially EU importers - to come out and define testing standards in order to create an acceptable system for all," Mr Fofie said.

There have been concerns in recent times about individual countries setting their own standards for cocoa imports based on which they grade quality, a situation exporting countries find problematic.

"We have a lot of countries to which we export our cocoa and so what happens if all these countries at various points decide to come out with their individual method of analysing the beans?" Mr Fofie asked. Ghana enjoys high premium on its cocoa which it ships mainly to Europe and Asia.

Last year, Japan downgraded a shipment of cocoa from Ghana based on what Cocobod said was the Asian country's own method of testing. "We still have this kind of situation arising from time to time. The problem is methodology of their analogy," Mr Fofie said, reiterating that the situation was not really about excess chemical residue in the beans.

He explained that while some importing countries included shells in the testing process, others only analysed the beans. Mr Fofie, who is in charge of Agronomy and Quality Control, said currently, Cocobod researchers were conducting a study to find alternatives to the dependence on chemicals.

He said Ghana was always mindful and committed to approved levels of pesticides in cocoa quality, especially with bagged cocoa shipment and that the system where many buyers were requesting for bulk shipment in containers should be encouraged.

"For us in Ghana now, we have been doing a lot more of the bulk shipment."

Mr Fofie said although there were no more virgin forests for new cocoa farms, Ghana was implementing modern technology, including fertilisation and the adoption of high-yielding seeds, to significantly increase productivity to not less than 600,000 tonnes as yearly average. "Until recently, we were doing just about 450 kilos per hectare, far below what others produce. But now I can confidently say we are doing far more than that as part of our policy to increase our average production to 700,000 tonnes and higher".