C ’River Suspends Non – Compliance Cocoa Levy

The Cross River
State Commissioner for Agriculture, James Aniyo, has announced the suspension of the N5,000 non-compliance levy imposed on cocoa.
According to our source, the agreement to remove the levy came shortly after the cocoa merchants in Ikom, took to the streets protesting against government’s agencies, alleged refusal to issue evacuation papers for onward shipment of cocoa.
While making the announcement to suspend the tariff, the commissioner said the non-compliance levy had been suspended till the outcome of the stakeholders meeting.
“We have instructed the Director of Produce Inspection to commence the immediate grading of cocoa and allow merchants to lift their produce,” he said.
Earlier, the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) had challenged the tariff imposition in court and eventually got a judgment stopping the government from collecting the levy.
The state chairman of CAN, Mr Alphonsus Nana said the non-compliance levy was illegal and the association expected government to respect court judgment.
He said the association had paid the money for the past three years “and now that the court has decided on the matter we want government to stop the illegal levy”.
The non-compliance levy dates back to 2011 under the then Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Sandy Onor.
Tariffs were imposed on merchants who refused to ship from the state port given that the diminishing viability of the ports was cited as a reason for the imposition.
The CAN chairman further expressed the fear that further delay in shipping the produce could affect output in the present season, adding that it could also cause the state cocoa sector to collapse.
Cocoa shipment from Cross River State had been halted in the past few weeks due to disagreements over the suspension of the levy.
Cross River State is the world’s fourth biggest cocoa producer with annual volumes of around 60,000 tonnes.