Cocoa beans imported into Ghana

Fifteen thousand tonnes of light crop cocoa beans were imported into the country from Cote d'Ivoire in the 2014/ 2015 crop season, Parliament heard on Tuesday.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, who stated this in the House, said data from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) revealed that Barry Callebaut Ghana Ltd, a cocoa processing company, imported the cocoa beans.

He added that COCOBOD granted permission for the importation.

He was answering a question filed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, who had sought to know the tonnage of cocoa beans imported by each of the cocoa processing companies operating in the country during the 2014/2015 crop year.

Mr Terkper said that was not the first time cocoa beans had been imported into the country.

Records available, he said, showed that the practice started in 2005.

"In fact, in 2008, the same company, Barry Callebaut, imported 15,000 tonnes of light crop cocoa beans into the country from Nigeria and Togo,” he said.

Later, the company imported 7,000 tonnes from Nigeria and 8,500 tonnes from Togo.

Closure of CPC

Asked what had led to the closure of two of the three manufacturing plants of the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) in Tema, the minister said he had not been apprised of the full facts and promised to make the information available to Parliament as soon as he had been properly briefed.

The CPC temporarily shut down its two cocoa processing plants in January 2016 because of what it described as operational challenges.

According to a circular dated January 25, 2016, the management directed the staff of the company to stay at home as part of their annual leave with effect from January 25, 2016 while the factories remained shut.