The Oil Palm Development Association of Ghana (OPDAG) has called on government to urgently address smuggling and regulatory failures in the oil palm sector, warning that continued inaction could severely damage the industry and the livelihoods it supports.
President of OPDAG, Mr. Paul Kwabena Amaning, speaking in an interview with the DAILY GUIDE, said regulatory agencies including the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and other stakeholders must form a coordinated task force to sanitise the oil palm market and restore fair competition.
According to Mr. Amaning, the FDA is mandated to ensure that all palm oil sold in Ghana—both imported and locally produced—is properly registered and licensed. He cautioned that unregulated and unpackaged palm oil poses serious food safety risks and called for intensified market inspections, arrests, and prosecutions of offenders.
He further accused some importers of smuggling palm oil through Ghana’s porous borders and evading taxes, allowing illegally imported oil to be sold at significantly lower prices. Mr. Amaning said the Association expects GRA officials to actively monitor markets and arrest individuals who import palm oil without paying the required duties.
Mr. Amaning described the situation as dire, explaining that Ghana’s annual palm oil demand stands at about 400,000 metric tonnes, while local production averages between 250,000 and 260,000 metric tonnes. However, he said import volumes far exceed the deficit of about 150,000 metric tonnes, largely due to smuggling and tax evasion.
He revealed that nearly 90 per cent of palm oil currently on the Ghanaian market is imported illegally, resulting in excess crude palm oil and fresh fruit bunches piling up in farming communities. This, he said, has forced farmers to sell below the approved government price of GH¢1,911.21 per tonne, sometimes at losses of up to GH¢1,200 per tonne, amounting to nearly GH¢1 billion in annual losses nationwide.
Mr. Amaning warned that the crisis threatens national stability, as nearly one million Ghanaians depend directly or indirectly on the oil palm industry. He urged government to strengthen border security, enforce licensing through the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), and ensure all vegetable oil imports are properly licensed and taxed, stressing that Ghana has sufficient processing capacity and that the real challenge remains smuggling and weak enforcement.
