Export/Import – Ghana Cocoa Bean xxxxxxx August 25, 2010
ITB305 International Business Environment xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx
Introduction
Cocoa beans are the seeds found in cocoa pods, which grow on small evergreen tree; each pod contains 20-50 seeds, or cocoa beans. Harvesting cocoa consists of cutting the ripe pods from trees, breaking them open and extracting the seeds from the pods. These seeds are then allowed to ferment for 6 or 7 days with two turnings before drying in the sun. Beans are then bagged and shipped. Ghana’s cocoa industry is regulated and controlled by The Ghana Cocoa Board, a government agency. The Board oversees all aspects of cocoa farming and production, including agricultural research and hybridization of seeds. The cocoa industry is so important that the Cocoa Board has its own cabinet-level post within the Ghanaian government.
Ghana Cocoa Board According to Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Cocoa is the country’s second foreign exchange earner and the lives of many farmers and their families depend on it. In recognition of the contribution of cocoa to the development of Ghana, the government established the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), as the main government agency responsible for the development of the industry (“Ministry of finance,” 2010). The mission of the Board is to encourage and facilitate the production, processing and marketing of good quality cocoa, coffee and sheanut in all forms in the most efficient and cost effective manner, and maintain the best mutual industrial relation with its objectives (“Ghana cocoa board,” 2010). The Ghana Cocoa Board governs the “purchase, market and export cocoa produced in Ghana which is graded and sealed under the provisions of Cocoa Industry (Regulation) Consolidation Decree, 1968 (NLCD. 278) or any other enactment, as suitable for export, to secure the most favorable arrangements for the
References: Food and agricultural import regulations and standards report (FAIRS). (1999). Foreign Agricultural Service, Retrieved from http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/ofsts/us.html Ghana cocoa board Ghana cocoa board, export of cocoa regulations. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.cocobod.gh/images/export_of_Cocoa_Regulations.pdf Ghana cocoa board, quality control division Ministry of finance and economic planning. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.mofep.gov.gh/index.html US import requirements