Parliament defers consideration of Plant Breeders Bill

Ghana’s Parliament Tuesday, November 11, 2014 deferred the consideration of the GMO Plant Breeders Bill which is currently at its consideration stage in the House.

The action comes at the direction of the Speaker Doe Adjaho, who said it was important the content of the document encapsulates the views and concerns Ghanaians have raised.

The GMO Plant Breeders Bill which was put before the House last year, has generated a lot of controversy as the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and pressure group - Food Sovereignty Ghana - started a movement against the bill.

They were soon joined by the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, Coalition of Ghana Farmers Association, Movement for Farmers Right against GMO Ghana, the National House of Chiefs, Brong Ahafo Traditional Chiefs and many others.

The Speaker today asked the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament to do broader consultations “given the level of public comments” on the matter.

"I understand you perfectly that at the consideration stage we can’t move to second consideration stage. But if it’s not a procedure that will breach the Constitution, if we can find a way of dealing with our Standing Orders so that those issues can be discussed to pave way comfortably for the consideration stage, I urge for further consultation so that tomorrow we can take it,” the Speaker noted.

The majority leader, Alban Bagbin, who is also the head of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee of Parliament presented the item on the floor and agreed with the Speaker.

He said they are willing to halt the process pending the results of the consultations.

“…Once you have counseled we would go back, consult, and see how best we can iron out a procedure that would not be in conflict with any of the laws including the Constitution because in Parliament, we are master of our own procedure.

“We can defer this item to when we finish with the consultations.”