InfoAnda - Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Pep Boys Agree To $5 Million Settlement In Clean Air Act Case | 11 May 2010
Body of India rape victim arrives home in New Delhi | | 30 December 2012
Cold weather strands travelers in China | 22 January 2010

A model dancer gone: 3 stars advance to finals | 18 November 2009

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (0) Full Focus Editor's choice Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article Images of February Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Banks foreclosing on churches in record numbers 10:25am EST Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike 08 Mar 2012 Whitney Houston leaves fortune to daughter 7:15am EST Kony: can a YouTube video stop an international killer? 11:12am EST U.S. adds Vatican to money-laundering 'concern' list 08 Mar 2012 Discussed 158 Obama warns against ”loose talk” of war on Iran 128 Israel asks U.S. for arms that could aid Iran strike 105 Three Occupy Oakland protesters charged with hate crimes Watched Turkish soap operas ignite culture war in Middle East revolution – Decoder Thu, Mar 8 2012 Should you sell your iPad 2 for a new iPad? - Tech Tonic Wed, Mar 7 2012 U.S. Navy kicks off rail gun tests with a bang Tue, Feb 28 2012 Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards Tweet Share this Email Print Related News SOFTS-Sugar up on Brazil harvest delay, other markets down Fri, Mar 2 2012 Smuggling "path of death" a lifeline for Syria revolt Wed, Feb 29 2012 Do fence me in: Israel closing Sinai loopholes Mon, Feb 27 2012 SOFTS-Cocoa slips, dealers note origin hedging Fri, Feb 17 2012 Analysis & Opinion The failure of Uzbekistan Ivory Coast to Belize — tale of two frontiers Related Topics World » By Sarah McFarlane and Ange Aboa OSSEIKRO, Ghana | Fri Mar 9, 2012 4:20pm EST OSSEIKRO, Ghana (Reuters) - In the dusty town of Osseikro just inside Ghana's border with Ivory Coast, the only billboard for miles welcomes visitors with the order: "Stop Smuggling Cocoa". But the garish sign, put up by Ghana's cocoa sector body during this year's harvest, has done little to deter smuggling through a town which is a hotspot for the illicit trade. "All of our cocoa is going to Ghana this year because of the prices," said Eric Comoe, head of a cocoa-growers cooperative in the Ivorian town of Abengourou, 30 km (20 miles) over the border. "For the country it's a problem because when there's smuggling they don't get the tax. But for the farmers it's good," he acknowledged. West Africa accounts for nearly three-quarters of world cocoa output and Ivory Coast and Ghana are the number one and two producers of the main ingredient of chocolate. The smuggling is a problem because it deprives Ivory Coast of much-needed revenues as it seeks to rebuild after last year's civil war, and also skews the production data on which the cocoa industry's investment decisions are based. While it has always gone on, smuggling spiked during the four-month conflict last year as hold-ups at Ivory Coast's two main ports prompted many farmers to funnel beans through Ghana to the east and north to Burkina Faso en route to port in Togo. Industry estimates put the real size of last year's harvest in Ivory Coast at around 1.7 million tonnes against the some 1.5 million tonnes that were officially declared - suggesting around 200,000 tonnes were smuggled out unrecorded. Yet even with the war over, the higher prices for cocoa in Ghana mean exporters and analysts forecast up to 145,000 tonnes of Ivory Coast's crop will be smuggled out to the country, and to a lesser extent to Guinea and Liberia, by end-April. A reform of the Ivorian sector to ensure price guarantees for its farmers may over time change that. But for now, farmers in its eastern region get an average 700-750 CFA francs a kg ($1.40-1.50) compared to Ghana's set price of around 1,000 CFA. "The price premium in Ghana was almost $900 per tonne at the start of the season but more recently has been close to $500 per tonne," said one commodities fund manager, noting the premium remained despite a recent increase in Ivorian prices. POLICE LACK RESOURCES Four trucks brimming with cocoa beans stood confiscated outside the deserted customs office in Abengourou on Sunday. During a brazen attempt to cross into Ghana at the official border crossing in January, the trucks were stopped by customs, local cocoa dealers said. This followed the Ivorian government move to step up its efforts to catch smugglers by deploying dozens of extra border patrol agents to eastern cocoa-growing towns late in December. Local dealers said that while the capture of the four trucks had made smugglers more careful, it had not stopped the activity. "Comparing the number of lorries they pick up and the number that go through, it's no comparison," said Comoe. Customs officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they were insufficiently resourced to tackle the problem. "We don't have cars or communication systems," said an Ivory Coast customs official. The Ivory Coast cocoa body CGFCC was not available to comment. Much of the illegal cocoa trade happens away from the official border crossing in the bush on narrow dirt tracks, easily navigated by motorbike, local dealers explained. Trucks move the cocoa to nearby the border and then motorbikes carry around three 60-kg bags at a time via these tracks into Ghana, where it is re-bagged as Ghanaian cocoa. Given the border regions share similar soil and weather, the beans should in theory be similar. However, Ghanaian cocoa officials insist their beans benefit from better handling, fertilization and crop spraying and so are far superior to Ivory Coast beans. Ivorian farmers disagree, saying they are capable of growing cocoa that is undistinguishable from Ghana's. FOR THE MIDDLE-MAN, BUSINESS IS GOOD In Osseikro, the premises of a middle-man, who said he sells large trade houses beans sourced from Ghanaian cooperatives and farms, is fronted by motorbikes on sale at 400,000 CFA each. Emmanuel Yeboah says the bikes are merely a good second business and denies the existence of any major cross-border smuggling. But, wherever the beans which he handles originally come from, he confides that business is good. "This year I get a fridge, freezer, a lot of things with my commissions," said Yeboah, who makes around 100 CFA per kg of cocoa he sources. As part of its planned cocoa industry reforms, Ivory Coast plans to reintroduce stabilized prices next season, to shield local farmers from price swings and to combat smuggling. But even then it is not expected that Ivory Coast and Ghana will set identical prices and any gap will still provide an incentive for smuggling. Ivory Coast's cocoa reform aims to give farmers between 50 and 60 percent of the so-called CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight) export price, while Ghana sets prices with the aim of giving farmers up to 70 percent of the CIF price. Exporters estimate that if you take the Ivorian government proposal of giving farmers 50-60 percent of the price, the farmer is still not going to get much more than 600-700 CFA, based on current prices. ($1 = 495.7170 CFA francs) (Editing by Mark John; Editing by Anthony Barker) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Saturday, 10 March 2012
Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east |
Germany wants new debate on EU constitution: minister |
Analysis:Legal fees in Gulf oil spill deal stir conflict |
Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |
Apple to build $304 million campus in Texas, add 3,600 jobs |
Search engine users disapprove of data collection: survey |
Hacker combined online attacks with petty crime |
Quest Software to go private in $2 billion deal |
Search engine users disapprove of data collection: survey |
Disney space movie tests big-budget film strategy |
''Salmon Fishing'' film makes impossible seem possible |
Oldest film based on Dickens found in Britain |
Afghan officials visit Guantanamo in peace bid |
Annan in Syria to press Assad for ceasefire |
Thousands rally in Libya against autonomy for east |
Yemen air raids kill 10 suspected Qaeda militants |
Afghanistan and U.S. sign prison transfer deal |
Slovak left poised to win election, sink reformists |
Italy condemns botched British raid in Nigeria |
Chinese police shoot dead 4 in raid in Xinjiang: report |
Israel kills 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes |
Cocoa smugglers on motorbikes evade Ivorian guards |
Apple's new iPad making waves in video game market |
Web giants' consumer privacy strategy faces hard sell |
Billboard names Taylor Swift big money maker of 2012 |
Whitney Houston sought love in wrong places: relative |
Sarah Palin dismisses ''Game Change'' as unimportant |
''Kony 2012'' director answers critics of video |
Dennis Quaid's wife files for divorce |
Author defends Doonesbury abortion strip |
Japan mourns tsunami dead; grapples with unfinished business |
Taliban Guantanamo detainees agree to Qatar transfer: official |
Israel kills four more Gaza gunmen, rockets hit Israel |
Smaller crowds challenge Putin after Russia poll |
Bahrain says will hold dialogue to end crisis soon |
Nigeria hostages killed in bathroom during rescue: witness |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01