Parliament has suspended the laying of the Legislative Instrument (L.I) that was seeking to restrict the importation of tripe and 21 other products into the country.
The suspension followed the concerns raised by the Minority against the LI.
The Speaker, Alban Bagbin urged the Trade Minister Kobinna Tahir Hammond to address the concerns raised by the Minority relating to the L.I. before it is laid before the house.
“Leadership, try to resolve these matters before we move on because we are dealing with instruments. And you know the impact of these instruments; that is why I am saying we should try and resolve it.
“Laying of an instrument has nothing to do with numbers, but because of the nature of the instrument you laid and the constitutional and legal effects of the laying, you better meet and discuss and resolve the issues before we move on,” Mr. Bagbin said on Thursday, November 23.
The Trade Minister earlier justified the move to restrict the importation.
Speaking during a press briefing in Parliament, the Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond said, “Stomach of animals, bladder and the chunk of intestines (yemuadie), the country had had to put in an amount of about $164 million towards the importation of these items. We are taking steps to ensure that in terms of rice, there’s no poverty of rice in the country.
“By these restrictions, we are not going to ensure that there’s no food in the country at all; that is not the point at all. There have to be some efforts by the government to ensure that we go back to Acheampong’s operation feed yourself. There are about 22 items on the list, one of them, I think, is diapers.”