Processed Nigerian cocoa faces duties of up to 6.1% in Europe
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Business Day Nigeria
Nigerian cocoa processors pay duties of up to 6.1% on paste and 4.2% on butter exported to the European Union, while raw beans enter duty-free. The gap can reach 200 dollars per tonne compared with exporters from Ghana and Ivory Coast, according to Business Day Nigeria.
Nigerian cocoa processors pay European duties of 6.1% on cocoa paste and 4.2% on cocoa butter, while unprocessed beans enter the European Union duty-free, BusinessDay reports. The gap could put Nigerian exporters at a disadvantage of up to 200 dollars per tonne, according to industry estimates.
Ghana and Ivory Coast, meanwhile, benefit from duty- and quota-free access for these semi-processed products under interim economic partnership agreements concluded with the European Union. Nigeria has not signed the regional economic partnership agreement between the European Union and West Africa, exposing its businesses to a tariff disadvantage as the government seeks to develop local processing.
Nigerian processors also face high electricity costs, logistical difficulties and limited financing. The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria exported 69.2 billion naira worth of cocoa butter to Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, France and Belgium in the first half of the year. Felix Oladunjoye, president of the Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria, believes that European duties and these domestic costs prevent Nigerian manufacturers from competing with their Ghanaian and Ivorian counterparts.
