CONRAG proposes quota system as alternative to rubber export ban

The Coalition of Natural Rubber Actors of Ghana (CONRAG) has proposed a six-pronged Regulated Export Quota System as an alternative to government’s 10-year prohibition on raw rubber exports, arguing that a blanket ban risks suppressing farm-gate prices, eliminating thousands of rural jobs and ultimately undermining the domestic processing industry it seeks to promote.

The proposal comes amid growing debate over how Ghana should pursue value addition in the rubber sector without weakening production incentives across the wider value chain.

While supporting the government’s industrialisation agenda, CONRAG  which represents the unified voice of rubber farmers, licensed aggregators, traders, nursery operators, processors, exporters, freight forwarders, and allied stakeholders across Ghana’s natural rubber value chain, contends that current market conditions do not justify a complete export ban.

Instead, it is advocating a framework that preserves both domestic and export market channels while progressively reducing export allocations as verified local processing capacity expands.

The proposed quota system would tie export allocations to regulatory compliance, plantation investment and measurable job creation, with annual reviews based on industry performance.

“Sustainable industrialisation cannot be achieved through restrictive market interventions alone. It must be inclusive, data-driven, and grounded in economic realities,” the coalition stated.

Central to the dispute is a disagreement over Ghana’s actual rubber processing capacity. Domestic processors have reportedly cited installed annual capacity of approximately 178,000 metric tonnes as justification for the ban, arguing that local factories can absorb the country’s entire output.

CONRAG, however, disputes those figures, estimating effective operational capacity at about 86,400 metric tonnes annually based on a 30-tonne-per-hour processing rate and an eight-hour working day. With national production estimated at around 145,000 metric tonnes a year, the coalition believes that a complete prohibition could leave substantial volumes without immediate domestic outlets.

The coalition is therefore calling for policy decisions to be based on independently verified operational data rather than installed capacity estimates, noting that actual factory output is often constrained by financing, maintenance requirements, energy supply, labour availability and working capital.

CONRAG also warned that restricting exports could reduce competition among buyers and weaken production incentives. According to the coalition, export markets introduced competitive purchasing and prompt cash payments that improved farmer incomes and encouraged increased production.

Removing those channels, it says, would strengthen the market power of a limited number of domestic buyers and place downward pressure on farm-gate prices.

The coalition further raised concerns about delayed payments by processors, contending that exporters have provided an important competitive check within the market.

It also warned that more than 6,800 direct jobs linked to the export value chain, including farmers, tappers, traders, transporters, port workers and freight forwarders, could be affected by a total prohibition.

While acknowledging that domestic processing can create higher-value industrial jobs, CONRAG said any transition must be managed carefully to avoid displacing existing livelihoods before replacement opportunities emerge.

The coalition further argued that the ban would marginalise traders and aggregators whose participation is recognised under the Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 (Act 1010), while concentrating market power among a limited number of processors.

CONRAG also rejected claims that independent traders and exporters are responsible for outgrower loan repayment challenges, attributing such difficulties instead to foreign-currency-denominated loans, exchange-rate volatility and transparency concerns in loan administration. It noted that about 90 percent of Ghana’s rubber farmers are self-financed and operate without government subsidies or corporate outgrower support.

Beyond the quota framework, the coalition is calling for broader stakeholder consultations, enforcement of existing industry agreements, targeted financial support for processors through Ghana EXIM Bank and an independent forensic audit of outgrower loan schemes.

It also expressed concern over what it described as shortcomings in the consultation process, noting that assurances of wider stakeholder engagement following discussions with policymakers in October 2025 had not materialised.

The Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry imposed the export ban through an administrative notice issued on April 27, 2026, following a Cabinet decision and deliberations under the Accelerated Export Development Programme.

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