Abidjan, 20 March 2017 — The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), established under the aegis of the United Nations and located in London, United Kingdom since 1973, is relocating to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the leading producer of beans with more than a third of the world’s supply.
After 44 years in the United Kingdom, a consumer country, the time was right for the Organization to move closer to the realities of cocoa producers in order to provide them with expertise in analyzing and solving the challenges facing them.
The ICCO inaugurates its headquarters (pictured above with ICCO Secretariat staff) in Abidjan on 25 April 2017. This inauguration coincides with the week-long meetings of the International Cocoa Council and its subsidiary bodies from 24 to 28 April 2017.
The ICCO has 51 member states, 21 from exporting countries and 30 from importing countries, as well as representatives of the private and public sectors. Its core mandate is to regulate and foster the operations of the world cocoa sector, in compliance with the successive international agreements signed by the member states. (Pictured: ICCO Chairman, Ecuador’s Vice Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, H.E. Mr. Luis Valverde, is welcomed to the Abidjan headquarters by Executive Director Dr. Jean-Marc Anga).
The Organization, through projects and capacity building programs that engage the various stakeholders in the value chain, aims to achieve a sustainable cocoa economy that encompasses, social, economic and environmental aspects.
The ICCO’s areas of expertise, among others, include economic studies of the world cocoa sector as well as the collection, analysis and dissemination of statistical data through:
– The Monthly Review of the cocoa market;
– The quarterly statistical bulletin (QBCS), reputed for its relevance and impartiality;
– The World Cocoa Directory, the only reliable reference publication of its kind;
– The organization of World Cocoa Conferences (WCC);
– The organization of seminars and training workshops for stakeholders in the world cocoa chain.
The relocation to Côte d’Ivoire, a producing country, marks a decisive step in the life of ICCO. This is an opportunity to consolidate the achievements and operate from Abidjan with the highest level of expertise crucial in this global organization, in order to adequately meet the expectations of all involved, especially the small producers.
