Cross Rivers cocoa exporters down tools over govt levy

Cocoa exports from Cross Rivers state have been stopped following a trade levy dispute between cocoa exporters in the state and the federal government of Nigeria.

“Cocoa has not moved since Monday because they [the government] have refused to give us excavation papers,” Godwin Ukwu, a spokesman of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria told Reuters.

According to him, about 2,000 tons of cocoa are on ground for export but shipments have been delayed after the government refused to issue certificates that will enable merchants ship the product.

Ukwu explained that the government had directed exporters this week to pay N320 per metric ton before it would issue papers traders require for shipping.

He said the levy was normally paid to the trade body without government involvement.

The trade levy issue has now become a concurrent problem for cocoa exporters in the region.

Last month, the exporters embarked on industrial action but later resumed activities on July 18 after the government suspended an export levy of N5, 000 a ton.

A meeting on August 7 set to discuss the issue did not yield fruit after the government and the traders failed to reach a consensus.

“If we don’t shut down tomorrow the warehouses will be filled … and it will difficult for us to continue to buy because there would be no more storage space,” Ukwu said on the current predicament.

With an annual export of about 75,000tons, Cross Rivers is Nigeria’s second-largest grower of cocoa after Akure, the capital of Ondo state.

Its exports are usually shipped to Europe where chocolate manufacturers use it to produce confectioneries.