Government is set to bar the country’s cocoa regulator from taking on non‑core projects, while launching a new traceability system to meet upcoming European Union import rules, the finance minister has announced.
From the 2025/26 season, the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) will be legally restricted to its core role of supporting cocoa production. Planned amendments to the Cocoa Board Act will prohibit the agency from undertaking quasi‑fiscal projects such as road construction, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said at a press briefing in Accra on Monday.
Ongoing cocoa road projects will be transferred to the Ministry of Roads and Highways as part of the restructuring.
The government will also launch a Ghana Cocoa Traceability System, enabling cocoa to be tracked from farm to port. The initiative is designed to comply with the EU’s Deforestation Regulations, which come into force at the end of 2025.
Dr Forson said the system would ensure Ghana’s cocoa is “traceable, deforestation‑free, child labour‑free and compliant” with international standards, placing the country in a stronger position to secure premium markets.
The reforms, he added, are part of efforts to put Cocobod “firmly on the path of recovery” and restore the industry’s contribution to the economy.
