Coffee exporters found in breach of the hoarding directive have been banned by the Ministry of Trade. Exporters found with stored Coffee in excess of the levels established in the directive will be severely punished according to Yacob Yala State Minister of Trade.

The Ministry of Trade has decided to place a ban on an estimated 50-55 exporters for failing to comply with the directive or for forging contractual agreement according to sources. This list includes many significant coffee exporters said the sources.

The Directive was established to counteract the ruinous effect that export contract execution issues had on the coffee export sector in May according to Yacob.

It followed delays in fulfilling international contractual obligations following the unexpected increase in the world commodity prices. The MoT issued the directive to enforce timely compliance with exports agreements to retain national credibility as an exporter on the global market.   

Consequently the directive prohibits holding large amounts of coffee with out an express commitment for export deposited with the National Bank. Any delays to the export commitments are also liable to punishment under the directives.

Storing 500 tonnes and above without a contract for legally export will cause an offender to be banned from the Commodity’s exchange for three months while stocks between 54-500 tonnes result in a two month bans according to the directive

The Ethiopian Coffee Exporters’ Association is exerting efforts to resolve the issue claim sources.It is not known whether the MoT has issued a written ban to the Commodities Exchange.

Source: The Reporter