The Tanzania Warehouse Receipts Regulatory Board (WRRB) has barred six companies from operating warehouses for cashew nuts due to poor business performance in the 2021/22 cashew nuts growing season. WRRB acting executive director Asengye Bangu told The Citizen that the six companies were barred from operating warehouses after violating the purchase procedures. However, he fell short of disclosing the names of blacklisted companies. RELATED Warehouse operator ordered to pay cashew buyer Sh921 million Africa Sep 16 “The board is therefore calling for the managements of the companies to reflect on their conducts in handling cashew in their respective warehouses as that was the reason behind their rejection hence listed in the danger zone,†he noted. Moreover, the WRRB acting boss assured stakeholders in the industry that the board will put in place regulations to protect buyers from incurring unnecessary costs related to the handling of cashew nuts in warehouses. “We will protect both the buyer and the farmer, we do not want to see any among them incurring unnecessary costs due to mishandling of cashew nuts stored under the warehouses receipt systems,†he insisted. Adding that: “We are not dealing with companies only, but individuals who violates nuts purchase procedures. We will not allow them to conduct any form of transactions.†According to him, the authority has been receiving various complaints from buyers saying they were not getting the value for the money for the purchased products during the auction. “This is uncalled for, when one (a buyer) gets what is contrary to what he/she had bid and paid for. We are working hard to make sure during this season such awful practices does repeat itself,†he assured the buyers. He said stiff actions will be taken against those who will temper with rules and regulations related to market that denies farmers and buyers to benefit from the nuts. According to him, business people as well as farmers were investing a lot of money in the business, saying there was need to ensure they get profit from their investments. “We have decided to install CCTV cameras in all the warehouses to capture all the footages within the warehouses. The Information Technology system has already been installed, and what is left is to link our central office with all the storage facilities,†he said. For his part, Mr Issa Said, a farmer, said: “Legal actions need to be taken against unethical storekeepers, this will help in eliminate problems related to poor quality cashew nuts as well as weight fraud.†He said it sounds awkward when one cheats on weight while in real sense it was not the weight that was prescribed on the purchase order. “There is need for us to have a stable market that is friendly to buyers and farmers so that we can all benefit from the crop,†he said.