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carried out at the various entry and exit points of the country through mainly Tema Port, Takoradi Port and Kotoka International Airport. The main concern for the FDA is that
imported food and drug products that reach the consuming public are safe, of good quality and efficacious in the case of drugs. The agency seeks to achieve the above through the
following:
Confirming the authenticity of registered imported regulated products through inspections at the port.
Identifying unregistered imported regulated products for registration. Continually widening the scope of regulation at the ports of entry to
include all imported products that fall under the FDAs Ghana purview as per the Public Health Act 851 of 2012.
FDA is also responsible for enforcing the hazard analysis and critical control point HACCP standards. The aim of international exporting partners is to protect consumers in European
countries. Regarding fishery exports and sanitary guarantees the role of the FDA currently seems not to be as deep-rooted compared to GSA responsibilities. Although FDA approval is
necessary to export fish products to Europe, it is not sufficient.
4.5 Fisheries Commission
The Fisheries Commission is mandated by the Fisheries Law, Act 625 2002, to regulate and manage the use of fisheries resources in Ghana and to coordinate the policies in relation to
them. It employs approximately 380 people, both in centralised and decentralised body on the coastal and inland landing sites. The Fisheries Commission has also launched the Ghana
Aquaculture Regulations 1968 2010 in the Ghana Fisheries Regulations LI 1968 2010.
The Fisheries Commission is in charge of: Issuing a licence to fish where size mesh, allowed gears are spelt out for the four
types of vessels including for the foreign vessels licence, Taking statistics on the catches species, quantity, size, price, exports, imports,
Monitoring fishing vessels with focus on Safety Certificates, Certificate of Competency of crew, fishing logbooks, fishing license, fishing gears and other
relevant documents. Having the responsibility for the local post-harvest fisheries auctions, markets,
Controlling aquaculture, hatcheries, fish breeding and harvesting as well as the fish safety monitoring fish disease, and
Setting-up the measures related to the sanction for any infringements with the Fisheries law and
Is responsible for Monitoring Control and Surveillance and Enforcement. Very important for the Fisheries Commission and the Fish Exporters is the topic of the Catch
Certificate. From the 1
st
January 2010, a “Catch Certificate” certifying that fish was caught legally in application of both EU requirements for the EC Council Regulations 10052008 to
prevent, deter and illuminate illegal fishing, unreported and unregulated fishing IUU fishing and Commission Regulation 10102009 to implement the EC 10052008 are mandatory
documents for Europe. Objectives of the certification scheme are to ensure product traceability at all stage of production, from catch to processing and marketing, to be a tool for
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compliance with conservation and management rules and to support cooperation between flag states.
The Catch Certificate must be signed by the fishing master of the vessel and endorsed by the Director of the Fisheries Commission or hisher designated representative. This signed catch
certificate must be supplied by the FBO to the CA with the bill of lading, as part of the documents provided to accompany the consignment. Only then, a Health Certificate can be
signed by the CA for the consignment to be exported.
Government finance and polices in the fisheries and aquaculture value chain of Ghana is poor Asiedu
et al.,
2015. However, in recent times 2014 the Government of Ghana has established a dedicated value chain and post-harvest unit within the Fisheries Commission of
the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development MoFAD.
4.6 Customs Excise and Preventive Service
