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The northern regional delegation of the Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) has warned that it will not tolerate the smuggling of cashew nuts out of the country, evading payment of the surtax due on the export of raw, unprocessed cashews.
The director of the northern delegation, Jeronimo Lopes, gave this “zero tolerance” pledge on Thursday, at a press conference in Nampula, after a meeting between cashew industrialists and members of the Nampula provincial government, to discuss measures required to strengthen the cashew processing industry.
Lopes recalled that last year the AT seized 40 containers full of raw cashew nuts in the port of Nacala before they could be smuggled out of the country (presumably to India, which is the main buyer of raw cashews).
“What we are proposing for this marketing season is to avoid contraband at all cost”, declared Lopes.
He said the AT is now working with the National Cashew Institute (INCAJU) and with the processing companies, in order to place staff at the cashew export terminals in Nacala.
Staff from INCAJU, and from the cashew companies “will facilitate transparency, from the packaging of the merchandise until it is loaded onto the ships”, he said. “Thus we shall eliminate any suspicions that may arise in the export of cashew nuts”.
The export surtax on raw nuts is a measure to protect the processing industry. The processing companies complain that exporters make false declarations to avoid paying the tax. This includes declaring they are exporting produce such as beans, whereas in reality the containers are full of cashew nuts. This is a fraud that harms both the state and the processing factories.
According to Yunus Mahomed, chairperson of the Association of Cashew Industries (AICAJU), this is a longstanding problem, and he urged shipping agents and the customs service to take a more serious attitude against this form of contraband.
In the current marketing campaign, Nampula province is expected to harvest 44,000 tonnes of raw nuts, essentially to supply the processing factories and guarantee the jobs of the workers employed there. There are 12 functioning cashew processing plants in the north, employing over 13,000 workers.
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