Over 2,000 metric tonnes of Ghana's cocoa beans, famous all over the world for its very high quality, has been rejected by Japan.

The Chocolate and Cocoa Association of Japan on Thursday appealed to Ghanaian authorities to take immediate steps to reverse the excessive agro-chemical residues found in some cocoa beans exported to the Asian country.

Naotada Sato, Chairman of the Association who made this known to the Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama in Accra at the head of a 16-member delegation, said so far his country had rejected 2,000 metric tons of Ghana"s beans as a result of stringent measures being taken to ensure product quality.

He said public awareness about the health values of cocoa products had created a huge market in his country.

Mr Naotada said 70 per cent of about 60,000 tonnes of the beans imported this year and the 56,000 tonnes purchased in 2005 came from Ghana.

Alhaji Mahama assured the delegation that Ghana would do everything possible to ensure the quality of its products that had been acknowledged worldwide.

He asked Japan to consider importing sheabutter from Ghana as part of measures to diversify trade and commerce between the two countries.

Ghana’s cocoa industry has been the mainstay of the Ghanaian economy for a long time and remains a considerable source of foreign exchange. The world’s leading producer until 1976, producing over 580,000 tonnes, Ghana production fell to 159,000 tonnes at the beginning of the 1980s. Ghana is presently the world second largest producer of cocoa; producing over 500,000 tonnes.

From a small beginning in the late 19th century with the first export of 80lbs, of dry cocoa beans from Ghana in 1891, the industry expanded steadily till it reached an annual average of 254,000 tonnes between 1933 and 1937, with a peak of 300,000 tons in 1936, then equivalent to 50 percent of the world’s total production.

The quality of Ghana cocoa continue to be acceptable to many consuming countries, but there is still room for considerable improvement. Manufactures want beans which are fully fermented, with a brown "break”, not slaty or purple. Good quality can be achieved only if the fullest attention is given to harvesting and preparation.

The cocoa tree must grow under the big rain forest hardwoods to be sheltered from the heavy sun. The pods grow on the side of the trunk, not on the branches. The pods must be harvested, split open to obtain the beans, and they allowed to ferment in the forest floor, for the outer pulp to fall off, before they are brought to the village to dry.