SHIPPING & WAREHOUSING 15
SHIPPING BAN REMAINS IN PLACE In March, the spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission at the European Commission, issued the following statement, which strongly suggests that the EU ban on ships calling at ports in Côte d’Ivoire will remain in place for the foreseeable future. "High Representative Catherine Ashton considers the ‘nationaliza-
tion of the cocoa trade’ and threats to confiscate cocoa stocks announced earlier this week by Laurent Gbabgo as illegal," said the statement. "Ex-president Gbagbo has no right to carry out any nationalisation
or confiscation of goods since he is no longer the legal president of the country. This is yet another step of state looting, following the ille- gal seizure of commercial banks." "The act illustrates that Laurent Gbabgo and his collaborators are
prepared to use any means at their disposal and to violate any laws and conventions to maintain power by force." "The High Representative recalls that President Ouattara has
declared a temporary export ban on coffee and cocoa, in order to prevent Laurent Gbabgo from collecting money that he is using to buy weapons and hire mercenaries in order to cling on to power." "Any cocoa or other ‘nationalised’ goods sold by Gbabgo’s regime
are stolen and illegal goods. EU citizens and economic operators must abstain themselves from trading with these goods. We encour- age other countries to take the same approach." "The High Representative also recalls that in support of President
Ouattara’s efforts, the EU has imposed an asset freeze on Laurent Gbabgo, 95 of his closest collaborators and 13 economic entities (including the ports of San Pedro and Abidjan) who are supporting and financing his illegal regime." "Any financial transactions in favour of these entities and persons
are illegal. The High Representative urges European enterprises to continue to comply with the President Ouattara’s temporary export ban and with the sanctions announced by the EU to secure a rapid transfer of power."
BOLLORE SIGNS €500 MILLION
GUINEA PORT DEAL
At the beginning of March Bolloré signed a concession worth €500 million to take over management of Conakry container port. The signing came days after Guinea’s new
president Alpha Condé annulled an accord with France’s Getma International to manage and expand the port. OTAL said speculation of such a deal has
grown since a visit to Conakry by Bolloré chief Vincent Bolloré in February. Mr Condé’s government said Getma’s
concession had been annulled due to the company failing to meet its obligations. Getma parent NCT Necotrans said in a
statement issued at the time that it would examine all means to defend its rights follow- ing the damage caused by the annulment of the contract.
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The FCC, ECA and Caobisco say shipping of cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire has virtually ground to a halt
Shortly after the statement was issued, Caobisco, the European
Cocoa Association (ECA) and Federation of Cocoa Commerce (FCC) also issued a statement in which they said their members were witnessing "with increasing concern" further deterioration of the situation in Côte d’Ivoire, and "fully share in the despair of the Ivorian population." "We deeply regret that a political solution has not been found yet,
and we continue to commend efforts for a speedy restoration of peace," said the organisations. "We duly note the publication, on 10th March, of the statement by the spokesperson to EU High Representative Catherine Ashton regarding the obligations of European economic operators with respect to trade in goods from Côte d’Ivoire." "As previously reported, our members’ operations in Côte d’Ivoire
in terms of procurement and processing of cocoa are severely hin- dered, while exports of cocoa have come to a standstill; likewise, ‘in country’ sustainability programmes have been seriously curtailed." "Despite these difficult circumstances, members of Caobisco, ECA
and FCC remain committed to the millions of people in cocoa farm- ing communities whose livelihoods depend on cocoa. * As this issue of C&CI was due to go to press, former President Gbagbo was seized by French forces in Côte d’Ivoire and the EU announced that it would lift sanctions on exports, although cocoa is unlikely to flow from the country until fighting stops and the banking system is restored.
May 2011 C&CI
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