Mozambique: Court cancels departure, transit of pigeon peas seized from ETG by competitor

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Mozambique: Court cancels departure, transit of pigeon peas seized from ETG by competitor

8:48 CAT | 19 Jan 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The Maritime Court of Nampula Province has cancelled the departure of containers carrying pigeon peas and other products seized from the ETG conglomerate in Mozambique, which a competitor intended to export, according to a decision to which Lusa had access today.

At issue is a dispute that has been dragging on for months and which has already led ETG, which requested the intervention of the President of the Republic, to file an injunction, in a lawsuit over the appropriation of its cargo, in the port of Nacala, by competitor Royal Group Limitada (RGL).

In yet another court ruling on this case, dated January 16th and communicated to the director of Nacala Customs, the Nampula Maritime Court decided to “order the sustation [cancellation] of departure and transit, by sea, of cargo in bulk and containers consisting of pigeon peas, soybeans, sesame, peanuts, rice and corn seized” from the defendants, RGL.

“This measure should be extended to the following companies: all shipping agents, CMA, CGM, MASC, MAFL, PIL, MAERSK LINE or any other company hired by the defendant [RGL] or with which the defendant has commercial relations,” the decision reads.

The document emphasizes that “only” the specified cargo that is seized “is covered by this suspension measure”, and therefore “compliance with this measure should not paralyze, disturb or embarrass the ordinary execution of other port operations”.

Mauritius-based conglomerate ETG previously said it is using all legal means, including international, to prevent the export of more than US$70 million (€64.3 million) of seized pigeon peas and other products.

READ: Mozambique: ETG to stop export of seized pigeon peas

“Currently, our seized pigeon peas, as well as other products, including sesame seeds, peanuts, maize, soya and rice, are being transferred from our warehouses in Nacala to other warehouses belonging to Royal Group Limitada [RGL],” an official source from ETG, a conglomerate based in Mauritius, explained to Lusa on Friday.

“Contrary to the court orders [which ordered the seizure of the cargo], RGL is repackaging the goods to be shipped under the name Bull Limitada. We believe that the shipment of the seized goods on a CMA CGM ship is imminent. On 13 January, the seized cowpeas amounted to $27.6 million and the seized goods to $44.9 million,” he explains.

Lusa reported on Thursday that the leader of ETG appealed to Mozambique’s president, in a letter dated 26 December, to intervene in the “pigeon pea saga”, in which he claims to be the victim of “expropriation” by the RGL company.

In the letter, Maheshkumar Raojibhai Patel complained of “extraordinary events” that have been taking place for several months in the port town of Nacala, Nampula province, northern Mozambique, with the “generalised theft and expropriation” of goods by RGL with the support of public bodies, jeopardising the export of agricultural products, namely cowpeas destined for India.

At the root of the conflict, which has been going on for around 14 months and has so far received no comment from the Mozambican government, is the complaint by RGL, which accuses ETG and other companies that export cowpeas to India – which buys almost all of the country’s production – of being responsible for the complaint that it had exported genetically modified soya beans (GMOs) to that country.

In October 2022, the Nampula Provincial Court ordered the suspension of all exports by ETG and other groups also accused by RGL in this case. The following day, the Nampula Provincial Court granted RGL an order to seize ETG’s assets, including real estate and ships, and froze its bank accounts.

Meanwhile, with a bail imposed by the local court of US$60 million (€55.1 million), the group is trying to stop the removal of the cargo in that amount, in pigeon peas and other agricultural products, allegedly by RGL, which took over its possession in Nacala.

In response to questions, an official ETG source stated that RGL “was caught sending GMO products to India by the Indian authorities more than a year ago” and “decided to recover the losses from this incident by starting an unfounded dispute against that conglomerate” which has now been criminalized with the cooperation of Mozambican public entities.

READ: Mozambique: Mauritius group ETG appeals to president over ‘pigeon pea saga’

ETG’s shareholders include Japan’s Mitsui, South Africa’s state-owned Public Investment Corporation, the largest asset manager on the African continent, and Saudi Arabia’s SABIC, one of the world’s leading fertiliser producers.

Source: Lusa