Professor Alex Dodoo, Director General of Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has assured exporters of fresh fruits that the Authority is establishing a dedicated export desk to serve as a contact point to explain and clarify their concerns in exporting their products to meet the required standards.
He gave the assurance in Accra when the Authority engaged stakeholders to brainstorm on challenges and adopt solutions as well as chart the way forward in ensuring that they met quality standards in the line of business.
Responding to the delay in the release of sample results for clients, the director-general assured the public that GSA would address the inefficiencies of delays in certification which were created by bureaucratic bottlenecks.
He was of the view that the certification of harvested fresh fruit was necessary for timely exportation and that the Authority would do its best to ensure that delays were minimized.
Prof Dodoo said their outfit was working assiduously on its online platform to decentralize their operations, in a bid to address delays in the system and also help to facilitate its work in a more efficient manner.
He said GSA would in the next three months install its electronic alert system to notify clients for quick response on their sample results to ease the long processes in the system.
“We are paid by the public’s tax and it behoves on us to respond to your needs. We will encourage you to continue to put us on our toes to do the right thing, since we are there because of you,” he added.
He pledged the commitment of the Authority to respond to the needs of stakeholders in the sector to meet standards and produce more for export and in return pay their taxes for development.
Mr. Samuel Yeboah, Technical Committee Member, Sea Freight Exporters of Ghana, commended the GSA for the engagement and expressed the hope that it would continue to resolve difficulties in the sector appealing to it to urgently work on the delayed processes in obtaining certifications for their products.
He called for collaboration with stakeholders to educate farmers against the misuse of agro-chemicals on the fruits.
By Adu Koranteng
