FDA raises concern over porous borders, unapproved routes

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in Ghana has expressed concerns over the ease with which sub-standard food and medicines are entering the country due to the porous nature of its borders and the existence of numerous unapproved routes. In its 2025 Operational Performance Report, the Authority mentioned that it has officials stationed at only 11 out of the 32 border posts across the country.

This lack of presence at the identified checkpoints hinders the Authority's ability to identify and track the entry of sub-standard products into the market, subsequently finding their way onto it. FDA's CEO, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Manso Opuni, highlighted this issue during the FDA's annual stakeholder meeting in Accra. He also pointed out that there could be over 150 unapproved routes in the country, a figure which is still growing.

The 32 identified routes are the ones the FDA has so far managed to ascertain. The officials stationed at the 11 border posts were also reported to be operating under trees due to the absence of offices, a situation that FDA described as worrying. The Authority is, however, working towards addressing this issue by providing the officers with fully functional container facilities to improve their operations.