ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A newly created regulatory body for gold exports from Ghana announced Monday that foreigners would no longer be allowed to buy or trade artisanaly mined gold in the country, Africa’s biggest gold producer.

Starting May 1, gold must be bought with licenses from the new Ghana Gold Board, also known as GoldBod, according to a statement from the new body. Licenses previously issued by the Precious Minerals Marketing Co., which used to market minerals produced in the country, will no longer be valid.

The statement said beginning next month no entity can purchase or deal in gold in the country apart from GoldBod, which was created to oversee gold trading and maximize revenue from its export.

Under the law, GoldBod becomes the sole buyer, seller, assayer and exporter of all gold produced by licensed small-scale miners in Ghana, and those who do so without a license from the board will be charged criminally.

Traditionally, local and foreign companies with export licenses had been able to buy and export gold from small-scale Ghanaian miners.

On March 29, Parliament passed the Ghana Gold Board bill, which was signed into law by President John Dramani Mahama on April 2.

Prince Kwame Minkah, spokesman for GoldBod, told The Associated Press that “the trading activities of GoldBod is expected to culminate into building the needed reserves to enhance our forex and by extension deal with gold smuggling.”

The chronic challenge of illegal gold mining — known locally as “galamsey” — was a major issue during Ghana’s presidential election campaign last year and a source of concern for voters, triggering protests and criticism against the outgoing government.

Ghana is the world’s sixth largest gold producer, but the commodity has been increasingly mined illegally as people become more desperate to find jobs in a crumbling economy. The mining has polluted rivers and other parts of the environment, despite government actions to clamp down on the practice.

Speaking before Parliament passed the bill, Minister of Finance Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, said: “The GoldBod will ensure that Ghana harnesses the entire gold value chain — from extraction to refining, value addition, and marketing — both locally and internationally.”