The Ministry of Trade and Industry will soon establish a commodity exchange and develop a regulated warehouse receipt system to ensure price stability and provide sustainable and affordable finance, especially to farmers who could further use their commodities as collateral.
Speaking to a cross-section of the media on Wednesday, Ms Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, said the regulatory framework and strategies necessary for the commodity exchange
would be ready by the end of the year.
Ms Tetteh said the Security and Exchange Commission had already concluded feasibility studies on the Exchange and a sub-committee had been put in place to deal with the necessary legal and regulatory framework to ensure a take-off.
On the Economic Partnership Agreements, Ms Tetteh said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)negotiations with the European Union were ongoing and Ghana would continue to work with the interim agreement until the full EPAs were concluded.
Ms Tetteh said the Ministry had put in place policies to address production and distribution through the provision of incentives for producers.
There were also plans to establish more industrial companies to reduce the problem of rotten foodstuffs and also ensure sustenance
and operation of the industry by having company farms to contribute to provision of raw materials.
The minister spoke on the need to implement environmentally-friendly technological measures to allow Ghanaian farmers to produce globally accepted products.
On the cotton support programme, the Minister said the ongoing disturbance in Egypt might not have any significant impact on the programme since the country was in the position to acquire machinery and expertise from other countries with experience in the field.
The minister said rice production had gone up by 30 per cent,but this development did not necessarily imply that Ghana would reduce its rice importation.
This, she explained, was because apart from the consumption of Ghanaians, some of the rice imported into the country was transited to neighbouring countries.
She also addressed the issues affecting the textiles industry, which, she said, were mainly copying and duplication of local designs of fabrics by unauthorized companies and reiterated that such illegal fabrics would be destroyed.