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3.102. Ghana's National Biosafety Act (Act 831) entered into force in 2011. The Law aims to regulate biotech activities including use, releases into the environment, and placement in the market, as well as exports, imports, and transit of genetically modified organisms. The National Biosafety Authority functions as a coordinating agency, while monitoring and enforcement are done by other regulatory agencies. The WTO SPS Committee was notified of the draft Biosafety (Management of Biotechnology) Regulations under Act 831, which were adopted in 2019 (L.I. 2383). According to industry reports, there are currently no restrictions on imports of genetically modified products or products containing GM material.

3.112. (...). Some of the recent measures implemented to curb anomalies include national policies on low or minor value procurement methods, sustainable public procurement, capacity-building measures to improve skills, benchmarking of non-performing entities with excellent performing ones, and focused monitoring to ensure compliance with assessment recommendations.

3.117. Sustainable Public Procurement has been a government priority since 2014, in line with the amendment of Act 663 by Act 914, Section 2 of the Act, which broadens the object of the PPA to include the environment and social sustainability. (...)

4.9. Based on the above, a new agricultural programme/campaign called Planting for Food and Jobs was launched in April 2017. (...). Other interventions include irrigation and water management, agricultural marketing, and post-harvest management.

4.13. Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) is in charge of providing the irrigation infrastructure and other water management techniques. (...)

4.26. (...), cocoa has been one of the main crops driving the deforestation in the high forest zone and the loss in soil fertility when virgin forests are cultivated ("forest rent approach" to cocoa farming).

4.27. Cocoa marketing and pricing are regulated by the state-owned COCOBOD. Since 1984, COCOBOD has the mandate to: (i) purchase, market, and export all cocoa produced in Ghana; and (ii) establish or encourage the establishment of industrial facilities for the processing of cocoa and cocoa waste into marketable cocoa products. (...)

4.38. Ghana had a forest cover of about 6 million ha to 8 million ha in 2020 (approximately one quarter of the land area), composed of naturally regenerating forests (96%) and plantation forests (4%). Ghana has two predominant ecological zones: the high forest zone mainly in the southwestern part of the country and the savannah zone occupying the other areas. The country has experienced high levels of deforestation, among the highest in the world, mostly attributed to forest clearing for cocoa farming.

4.39. Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution, the Government claims state ownership of all naturally occurring trees, including land privately held under customary title. Most of the forest land in Ghana is vested in local communities and open to traditional activities, including the collection of non timber forest products, hunting, and fuel wood collection, which partly explains the deforestation problem. The ownership of planted trees is, however, distinct from that of naturally occurring trees. Tree tenure rights in Ghana are complex, and reforms are planned. However, changing the current tree tenure regime requires revisions at many levels, including the Constitution.

4.40. The forestry sector is overseen by the The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR), and the Forestry Commission of Ghana is responsible for its regulation. The Ghana Forest and Wildlife Policy 2012 is the main policy document guiding the sector, supplemented by the Ghana Forestry Development Master Plan, 2016 2036 , and the Ghana Forest Plantation Strategy. The main forestry legislation includes the Timber Resource Management Act, 1997 , as amended by the Timber Resource Management Act, 2002 (Act 617); the Trees and Timber Act, 1994 (Act 493) ; and the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624). Under Act 617, private enterprises, including foreign companies, may enter into a contract with the Government to utilize and manage timber resources. In addition, the Minister may for the purpose of promoting strategic or major investments in the forestry sector negotiate specific incentives in addition to those provided under Act 617.