By Benjamin Mensah, GNA
Accra, May 18, GNA - Professor Michael Aaron Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament has directed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) to issue with immediate effect, a disclaimer on fake one litre (11t) Rockstar, cocoa insecticide being sold on the market.
Although, the supposed insecticide is not yet to be approved by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, the Speaker has directed that the disclaimer be done before the close of Friday, May 18, 2018.
He also directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take immediate steps to withdraw the insecticide from the market.
Additionally, the Speaker directed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to expedite its investigations into the reported sale of the supposed sub-standard and fake chemical, and for the Sector Minister to report to the House on the first Tuesday in the month of June 2018.
The Speaker’s directive followed responses by Mr Kennedy Osei Nyarko, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture and Mr for Akim Swedru, who stood in for the Sector Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, to an urgent question, on the supposed chemical.
Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, MP for Juaboso (a constituency where cocoa is widely grown in the Western Region of Ghana) had asked: “Mr Speaker, I rise to ask the Minister of Food and Agriculture whether the Minister is aware that one litre (11t) Rockstar, which is supposed to be cocoa insecticide, but not yet approved for sale by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana is already being sold on the market, and if so, what appropriate steps is the Ministry taking in this regard.”
With some protestations, the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah- Bonsu, said the question should be directed to the EPA, but the Speaker invited the Deputy Minister to respond and he said the matter was under investigation by the Ministry.
The issue about the fake insecticide has become a thorny issue as the product was losing its price strength on the world market while that of neighbouring La Cote d’ Ivoire was making gains.
Ghana is said to be losing at least $1 billion dollars every year as a result of the declining prices of cocoa on the international market. On the contrary, Ghana’s neighbouring country, Côte d’Ivoire - which is currently the leading producer of cocoa has reduced its producer price to its farmers.
This, Economic Intelligence Unit warns, could attract smuggling of cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, due to a higher local price set by COCOBOD, which means Ivorian farmers would benefit from the sale of the beans to Ghana if they succeed in smuggling it into Ghana.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COBOD) is targeting about 700,000 tonnes of cocoa production in the 2017/2018 season.
Already, government has maintained the producer price of cocoa beans for the 2017/2018 crop season at GH¢7, 600.00 per metric tonne, despite the sharp drop in the price of the commodity from $3,000 dollars per tonne to about $1,900 dollars by the end of 2017.
Meanwhile, Cocoa plays an important role in the economy of Ghana as the industry employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over six of the ten regions of Ghana.
The crop generates about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually and is a major contributor to Government’s Revenue and GDP. Cocoa products like chocolate, pebbles, and cocoa powder are used by many Ghanaians and beyond.
GNA
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