Nigerian Shippers Export Beans through Neighbouring Ports

By ZION Olalekan

Coordinating Director of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) Dr. Vincent Isegbe has said that due to the ban on Nigerian beans export by the European Union, Nigerian shippers have devised a new means of exporting the commodity through neighbouring ports.

Isegbe through the Southwest Coordinator of NAQS, Mr Sunday Ikani told journalists at a recent event in Lagos that the beans is diverted to other ports from where the certificate of origin is changed in order to beat the ban.

“Right now, beans from Nigeria are going to the UK, but how is it going? We have to go and pass through another country and change the certificate of origin. When they get there, the beans is offloaded into a warehouse, the country’s quarantine service is called upon to come and inspect it and certify it okay”

“By so doing, it would now look as if the beans is from that country. It is a tedious process, compared to you as a shipper, shipping from your country”.

Isegbe however disclosed that this is not illegal, stressing that the procedure is allowed in international trade.

“It is only that it costs you more. You have to pay all necessary taxes and registration in that country you are stopping over at”

“The EU were to come here in December, but when they saw the different advocacies we were doing like going to the markets, training the farmers, the dosage of chemicals acceptable and so on. When they saw all these, they have their own agents here, so they wrote us that they have postponed their coming because they know we are making a lot of efforts, any moment from now, there is no doubt that they would lift the ban”, he assured.

Meanwhile the service has said that it has begun the regulation of all beans sellers in Nigeria.

According to her, all beans sellers in the markets would now have to get the product from distributors accredited by NAQS.

The move according to Dr. Isegbe was necessitated due to recent reports that Nigerian beans was being preserved with dangerous chemicals like ‘sniper’ which is harmful for human consumption.