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The legislative organ of the government deliberated
last week on a new bill – Coffee Quality Control and
Marketing Proclamation – proposed by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), and meant
to link existing institutional arrangements of the
sector with the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)
and to reorganize of government executive organs.
“In order to efficiently supply quality and
competitive coffee to the global market, it has
become necessary to establish an improved system for
coffee quality control and marketing,” reads the
introduction of the bill.
Though the need to make the coffee marketing system
fast and cost effective to enable producers to earn
better income, as well as institutional
harmonization are the underlying reasons for
proposing the bill, a recent Japanese rejection of a
consignment of Ethiopian coffee due to quality
related problems seems to have pushed the process a
bit faster.
Japan’s Ministry of Health has rejected an unknown
number of containers full of coffee from Ethiopia a
month ago, after they detected obsolete
agrochemicals and pesticides of three kinds within
the consignment.
“In more than a dozen cases [luggages of coffee],
these pesticides were detected,” Japanese Ambassador
to Ethiopia, Kinichi Komano, told Fortune in
an exclusive interview two weeks ago.
His country, the second largest importer of
Ethiopian coffee next to Germany, has subsequently
sent a team of experts last month, which consulted
with Ethiopian officials and coffee exporters about
the problem. The team picked up some sample soil and
coffee beans for further examination.
At its last session of the just ended fiscal year on
Monday, July 7, 2008, before MPs go into recession
for the next three months, the Parliament
deliberated on the bill and sent it to the Rural
Development Affairs Standing Committee for
supplementary and further discussion.
According to the bill, coffee wouldshall be
pre-inspected by the legal designated regional
quality control organ in the locality of production,
and sent under seal to a coffee quality liquoring
and inspection centre. Exporters are expected to
have their coffee certified by such a centere before
export, with the certificate indicating that it is
prepared in accordance with the agro-ecological
characteristics of the production area and meets the
required grade. It would then be sealed and
transported to the port for consignment.
For locally consumed domestic consumption coffee, it
is only expected only to be sealed and sent to
consumer regions upon verification and issuance of a
certificate by a similar centre, the bill states.
The draft law further obliges people involved in
coffee transactions to perform the purchase, and
sell only in official transaction centres, ECX in
Ethiopia’s case, and comply with all rules and
regulations enacted by the appropriate bodies for
proper regulation of coffee transactions.
“Any coffee processor who fails to comply with the
appropriate technical procedures stipulated in the
bill, and thereby causes damage to the quality of
the coffee or the local community, will be
prohibited from transporting the coffee to
transaction centres; his processing plant will be
sealed and will be fined with 20,000 Br and
imprisonment of not less than one year, unless
punishable by greater penalty as per any other
relevant law,” the bill reads.
The bill also imposes a fine of 30,000 Br and the
same duration of imprisonment for any person who,
without notifying the appropriate body, stores and
tenders for sale of coffee outside of the authorized
time and place.
The bill also introduces castigatory measures of a
50,000 Br fine and imprisonment of not less than
three years, but not exceeding five years, in
addition to confiscation of the coffee, on anyone
who unlawfully, or in an inappropriate manner,
transports coffee, sells in the domestic market
unroasted coffee or processed roasted coffee that is
of export standard in the domestic market, owns a
vehicle apprehended for transporting illegal coffee,
and who commits a manipulative act in relation to
coffee and quality and marketing.
The coffee exporter will be forced to inform the
National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) within 24 hours
about the contract for sale of coffee, details of
the contract, and including the exact price.
Exporters should not resubmit for sale, coffee which
is export graded by the quality liquoring and
inspection centre and purchased from the auction
centre, or the ECX, according to the bill.
East African Fine Coffee Association Ethiopian
Chapter Chairman, Hailu G. Hiwot appreciated the
draft law, but says it needs some amendments in the
article that prohibits the exporter from
resubmitting export graded coffee for sale. Such
standard coffee, which passed every inspection
process, may be debarred due to losse of the quality
caused by rain or other liquids along the transport
track, he argues
However, an expert in the MoARD told Fortune
that the ministry will issue a directive on the mode
of transport relevant to such concerns.
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