The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has raised concerns that key provisions in the new Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Bill could expose cocoa farmers to penalties for administrative lapses and make it difficult for them to verify the basis of producer prices.
The party said although it supported reforms to the cocoa sector, aspects of the legislation passed by Parliament under a Certificate of Urgency last month required further scrutiny.
It singled out provisions on farmer registration, producer pricing and the removal of cocoa trees as potentially harmful to farmers.
Call
The NPP, therefore, called on the President to withhold assent and return the Bill for broader consultation.
It also urged Parliament to reconsider what it described as contentious provisions, saying a law intended to protect cocoa farmers should not expose them to unintended penalties or leave key aspects of the pricing system unverifiable.
At a press briefing last Sunday, the Co-Chairman of the NPP Policy Committee on Agriculture, Dr Isaac Yaw Opoku, said Clause 85 could penalise farmers who had not been registered on the Cocoa Management System, even where the failure was due to COCOBOD.
Farmer registration
Dr Opoku, who is Ranking Member on Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, argued that registration was the responsibility of COCOBOD and, therefore, a farmer who had not been reached by an enumerator should not be prevented from producing or selling cocoa.
He proposed that the restriction on unregistered farmers should take effect only after the government certifies that registration is substantially complete.
Price guarantee
Dr Opoku also questioned the proposed statutory guarantee that farmers would receive at least 70 per cent of the Gross Free On Board (FOB) price realised by COCOBOD.
He said that tying the producer price to “realised Gross FOB” could make it difficult for farmers to independently determine how their prices were calculated.
He called for the computation and underlying contracts to be published and independently audited each season.
Tree removal
Dr Opoku, who is also the NPP Member of Parliament for Offinso South, further warned that provisions requiring approval before cocoa trees could be destroyed, uprooted or felled could interfere with routine farm management and efforts to control swollen shoot disease.
He urged Parliament to exempt tree removals carried out in accordance with approved COCOBOD agronomic guidelines.
