The Consortium of Rubber Sector Actors of Liberia (CORSAL), a registered advocacy group comprising Rubber Farmers, Brokers, Truckers, Exporters, and Forwarding Agents, has described Executive Order #124, issued in 2023, as “deadly and heartless.”
According to CORSAL, the rubber sector in Liberia has been dominated by a few elite institutions, disadvantaging the poor Liberian rubber farmers and other actors within the sector, which goes against a free competitive market.
The group stated that the Executive Order was issued abruptly without stakeholder consultation. They claimed to have 94 containers of unprocessed rubber stockpiled at the Free Port of Monrovia since December 2023, for which the Government of Liberia has charged them $57,000 in storage fees.
CORSAL argued that the Government’s actions have significantly damaged their business capital, led to defaulted bank loans, and threatened the seizure of their properties. They accused the Government of misapplying the Constitution by relying on Article 5(c) to justify the ban on exporting unprocessed rubber.
The group maintained that the rubber belongs to the farmers, who planted it without government assistance, and they should be allowed to access the market of their choice. They also claimed that the Executive Order violates the Competition Law of Liberia, which promotes an efficient free market system.
CORSAL warned that the violations of the Constitution and the Competition Law could lead to mass actions or civil disobedience against the State. The group stated that they had met with all state actors to explain how the ban on exporting unprocessed rubber is affecting the Liberian people.
