By EDDIE OSIFELO
ONE farmer who brought his seven copra bags to sell to Solomon Islands Commodities Private Ltd in Honiara has complaint on the tare of 1.5 kilogram per bag.
Rex Suriga raised this issue after he received 10.5 kg for his seven copra bags.
He believes the total weight should be lower than the seven bags.
“The company is making profit from our bag,” he claimed.
“This practice needs to be stopped,” he added.
However, Dilip Kuma Acharya of SICPL said the tare of 1.5kg is the standard weight set by the regulator, Commodities Export Marketing Authority (CEMA).
Kuma said the company cannot reduce the weight because it is set standard where every buyer in the country must follow.
CEMA confirmed that according to the tare standard prize, 1kg is for new bag and 1.5kg for old bag.
One of the inspectors in CEMA said this prize was set by the Copra Board when CEMA operated commercially in the country.
According to the payment voucher produced by SICPL, Suriga received $2,578 for the 7 copra bags.
The gross weight for the 7 bags is 747.00, tare is 10.50 and net weight 736.50.
The company charges $3.50 per bag.
Island Sun understands buyers like Solomon Islands Copra Exports, JAMCOP and Solomon Tropical Product have used the same tare weight regulated by CEMA.
