The Swiss Ambassador on Friday said more Ghanaian exports are rejected at the European Union and United States borders because of non-compliance with international standards.

Mr Andrea Semadeni has, therefore, suggested to the government to take pragmatic steps to rectify the situation in order to be well placed in the competitive international market.

He was speaking at the signing of an agreement on “improving sustainable value chains for exports from Ghana” under the trade capacity building programme in Accra.

The programme aims at enhancing the export potential of targeted sustainable value chains; fruits, cocoa, fish, and wood products with important poverty reduction impact over a period of four years.

He said deficiencies in product quality and safety continue to stifle exports and that Ghana needs to get “these basics right, before it can seriously talk about export diversification”.

He said, since Swiss collaboration with Ghana started in 2007, the country had made significant progress to narrow the gap.

Mr Semadeni said: “Food and beverages for export and local consumption can now be inspected and tested against international standards.

“The introduction of traceability systems allows export horticultural products to be traced back to the farm, and companies now have access to liable certification services for food safety at affordable prices.”

Mr Semadeni said the value chain programmme would help Ghana to significantly increase its export volumes and sustain growth.

Thus, it would consolidate progress in transition to a middle income country whilst ensuring a better life for the people, he said.

Mr Edwin Nii Lantey-Vanderpuye, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, who signed the agreement on behalf of government said the project would help Ghana better integrate into the global competitive market.

He said the programme would also make it easy for Ghana to achieve its non-traditional export target of five billion dollars.

The Swiss government through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs is funding the more than $5 million programme.

The programme is to be implemented by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to build Ghana trade capacity.