<p></p><p>THE Bureau for Internal Affairs (BIA), an anti-corruption organisation and a centre for information gathering on public concerns, has called on President John Mahama as Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to intervene in the uprising trade tension between Ghana and Ivory Coast. The BIA Coordinator, Cynthia Essandoh, noted with concern that there was a hidden trade war between the two neighbouring countries resulting from a previous ban on inland rice importation by the Ghanaian government.</p> <p>She explained in Accra that the decision to ban inland importation of rice appears to have been taken by the Ghana's Trade Ministry without proper consultation with the relevant stakeholders. Haruna Iddrisu, Ghana's Minister of Trade and Industry, on October last year, directed that all importation of rice into the country must be done through the airport or by sea. </p><p>The policy, according to him, was ended "to provide a framework of administrative procedures through which the numerous unfair trade practices including evasion of import duties and other taxes, under-invoicing, infringement of trademarks, and smuggling shall be controlled." The Trade Ministry subsequently lifted the ban but BIA claims its investigation showed that it was still subtly being applied by Ghana. </p><p>BIA claims that the Ivorian government has also retaliated by banning import of cashew from that country into Ghana by road. BIA said its investigation reveal that the inland ban of cashew importation and the initial restriction of cargo trucks by Ivory Coast authorities from entering their country from Ghana through their border were fuelled by Ghana's Trade Ministry's implicit ban on inland rice importation through the common border of the two countries. </p><p>BIA is therefore advocating the total lifting of the ban by the Trade Ministry to enhance the free trade relationship between Ivory Coast and Ghana. The bureau says it fears the possibility of other neighbouring French-speaking countries adopting similar policies such as Ivory Coast's. "That can go a long way in worsening the plight of traders in Ghana." </p><p> </p><br><p></p>