The following contracts for the trade in groundnuts are in force:

 

Disputes that arise from the NOFOTA contract(s) are being settled by arbitration. The appointment committee are elected by the General Annual Meeting. They appoint three arbitrators in case of an arbitration in first instance and five arbitrators in case of an appeal.

Dispute settlement by arbitration is a quick and relatively cheap way of jurisdiction. An application for arbitration must be made in writing and contains a brief exposition of the dispute, together with the formulation of the claim of claims made. The secretary of the division informs the claimant in writing about the amount it has to pay as a deposit at the secretariat for the costs of arbitration.

The defendant shall be given an opportunity to submit a written defence before a date to be fixed by the secretary of the division. Arbitrators shall give parties an opportunity to be heard by them at a time and place to be determined by the arbitrators. Arbitrators shall give their award as good persons in equity.

The secretary of the division shall send each party a copy of any arbitral award by registered letter. For more information regarding the rules for arbitration contact the secretariat or consult the NOFOTA Trading Rules, which are available on this website.The list of arbitrators, both for the Oils & Fats section as well as for the Groundnut section can be found under the members section of the website. 

To become an arbitrator you need to comply with the criteria as published on this page on the website and act in accordance with the Code of Practice for arbitrators.

Additional information about arbitration matters will be added soon.