Exporters of cashew have blamed shipping companies for the increasing incidence of rejected cashew abroad while the shipping companies have in turn said the exporters are not entirely blameless.
The issue was raised at a stakeholders’ forum where members of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria met with operators of leading shipping companies in Nigeria to address issues of delays and rejected cashew exports.
Speaking during the forum, the President, NCAN, Mr. Tola Faseru, urged the shipping companies to reduce the transit time for shipping cashew from Nigeria, adding that the time should be set at a maximum of 30 days.
He accused shipping companies of sometimes keeping the product inside containers for as long as 120 days, noting that such length of time could damage cashew given its fragile nature.
Faseru said, “Most of the shipping companies don’t even understand. They just treat cashew as one of those commodities. It is a sensitive commodity that should not stay in a container for too long.
“Shipping companies should help us improve the transit time so that instead of the commodity taking several months to get to its destination, the transit time will be shortened. We want that transit time to be reduced to 30 days.”
He added, “The moment the container stays beyond 30 days, we will send a lawyer and the shipping company involved will pay 100 per cent cost.
No comments:
Post a Comment