Switzerland sponsors accreditation of food testing labs

at Ghana Standards Board

Two state-of-the-art laboratories that will be used to test Ghana’s agro exports have been officially opened at the Ghana Standards Board. The official launch was done jointly by the Swiss Ambassador to Ghana Mr. Nicolas Lang and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms. Hanna Tetteh.

The laboratories which have been upgraded and internationally accredited were sponsored by the Swiss Government through the UNIDO Trade Capacity Building Project. The accredited testing laboratories at GSB are in the fields of Microbiology and Pesticide Residue.

Ghana, like most developing countries has liberalized its economy in the hope that this would expand its industrial base, achieve export-led growth and eradicate poverty. Despite these measures Ghana has not been able to fully exploit its export potentials. Challenges such as limited market access for exports still remain. Due to the lack of production capacity and stringent international standards requirements i.e. technical, environmental, health and safety requirements set by importing markets, not very much is exported.

The laboratories will assist Ghanaian exporters to ensure food safety, timely detection of pesticide residue in local and exported food and reduced cost of testing in destination countries. Furthermore Ghanaian exports will enjoy more acceptance because data generated by the accredited laboratories are internationally recognized and finally the exports will enjoy consumer confidence.

The Trade Capacity Building Project worth USD 2.7million began in 2007 and aims to improve export capacity of Ghana to produce acceptable products, develop standards and conformity assessment infrastructure that would prove Ghanaian products in export markets and to better integrate Ghana into the multilateral trading system.

In his speech during the launch, the Swiss Ambassador, Mr. Nicolas Lang, highlighted the benefit of laboratories to Ghana and expressed expectation that the Ghana Standards Board will maintain higher standards for Ghana’s exports.

Mr. Victor Mills, the Project Coordinator for the UNIDO Trade Capacity Building Project said “the accredited labs will facilitate Ghana’s international trade” he added that “…we will test various export products and the results will be internationally accepted”.

As part of the Trade Capacity Building project the Ghana Standards Board has developed its management certification system capability, developed and published adequate standards for selected export products. The project has also established a national traceability system for horticultural products with the Ghana Export Promotion Council. There is ongoing capacity development of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate to become an EU competent Authority in the field of horticulture. More laboratories in the areas of chemical, textiles and seed testing are yet to be accredited under the project.

The Embassy of Switzerland in Ghana implements the official Swiss Economic Development Assistance to Ghana granted through the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Switzerland’s assistance to Ghana concentrates on economic and trade measures in four main domains i.e. sound macro-economic policies and transparent public finances; financial sector development and strengthening; trade, competition and investment climate and basic infrastructure regulation and public utilities in energy.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its mandate is to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition, and work towards improving living conditions in the world's poorest countries by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise.

The Ghana Standards Board (GSB) established in 1967 and is the national statutory body with overall responsibility for quality infrastructure embracing Metrology, Standards, Testing and Quality Assurrance(MSTQ).

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