APIEX calls for certification of agricultural goods in Mozambique

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APIEX calls for certification of agricultural goods in Mozambique

10:26 CAT | 12 Jun 2019

Lourenço Sambo. Photo: O País

The general director of the Mozambican Investment and Export Promotion Agency (APIEX), Lourenco Sambo, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, has warned that Mozambican agricultural goods are failing to become eligible for export to various countries because of the lack of capacity to certify them inside Mozambique.

Speaking on Monday, at a meeting on how to export Mozambican agricultural goods to countries in the Middle East, organised by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Sambo said that Mozambique is in no condition to export agricultural and livestock products to Dubai or to any other demanding market.

In order to facilitate exports, he added, the country should begin to take very seriously the question of certifying agricultural goods.

The dilemma was acutely expressed by the question of macadamia nuts, which are produced in parts of Niassa, Manica and Maputo provinces. Macadamia producers in the Manica district of Sussundenga, said Sambo, take their nuts to South Arica where they are certified – but they are then labelled as “Made in South Africa”.

“Markets such as the Middle East are demanding – just as demanding as we are”, said Sambo. “We cannot eat anything without knowing where it comes from”.

He also criticised the trend “to do agriculture in the office, and not on the ground”. In Mozambique, “we do a lot of agriculture in the Ministry, and in the provincial directorates, but it’s not there that agriculture happens, but in the countryside”.

Despite Sambo’s warnings about certifications, some Mozambican goods are already exported to Dubai. According to Abdulla Momade, representing the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, these include cashew nuts, peas, beans and bananas. He believed that, if production of these goods was increased, Dubai would be willing to import more of them.

Source: AIM