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An International Cocoa Organization Workshop that began on 7 June in Cameroon marked the launch of a major programme to help African cocoa producers maintain their market access in the face of stringent pesticide residue legislation.

Pesticide residue regulations published by the European Union, the USA and Japan could affect the cocoa trade and deprive millions of smallholder farmers and their governments of the much needed revenues required for poverty alleviation programmes. These Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, relating to pesticide residues and other harmful substances, have to be met by imported cocoa.

The Workshop–which took place 7 – 10 June in Yaoundé, Cameroon–was the first stage in the ICCO project ‘SPS Capacity Building in Africa to Mitigate the Harmful Effects of Pesticide Residues in Cocoa and to Maintain Market Access’. It brought together government agencies responsible for the cocoa sector, national food safety organizations, institutions responsible for the registration and use of pesticides, farmers, cocoa associations and important members of the cocoa trade and industry.

In partnership with the Standards and Trade Development Facility, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, CropLife International, and COLEACP/EDES, the ICCO project aims to assist cocoa producing countries to strengthen their expertise and capacity to implement international SPS standards, thus improving their ability to gain or maintain market access for their cocoa beans.

The project will involve five major African cocoa producing countries—Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo—each of which will be represented and make presentations at the Workshop.

As African cocoa producers account for 75% of world cocoa exports, it is crucial to help them understand and respond to the international SPS standards. An important part of the approach is assisting farmers and other cocoa supply chain stakeholders to adopt good agricultural and warehousing practices.

For more information, please click here to visit the dedicated new section of the ICCO website: www.icco.org/sites/sps

Dr. Jean-Marc Anga, Executive Director a.i., previewed the statistics in the upcoming Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics during an interview on the state of the cocoa market with Bloomberg News on 25 May.

The Executive Director a.i. presents his compliments and has the honour to refer to the decision taken by the International Cocoa Council during its 83rd regular session in March 2011 related to document ED(MEM) 923/Rev.1 concerning the implementation of the recommendations of the First and Second Roundtables on a Sustainable Cocoa Economy (RSCE1 and RSCE2).

Members and Observers who have not yet responded are kindly requested to consult as appropriate with the relevant agencies and institutions in their countries in providing information to the Secretariat on the activities and initiatives underway pursuant to the above-mentioned recommendations and to complete and return the questionnaires to the Secretariat at the earliest opportunity.  In this connection, it is noted that the European Union has undertaken to reply to the Secretariat on behalf of its Member States.  The Secretariat would also welcome any other feedback or comments that Members and Observers may wish to make (with or without a completed questionnaire) related to the two Roundtables.

The information provided within the questionnaires and replies will be presented in document ICC/83/6/Rev.1, for consideration by the Council at its 84th regular session in September 2011.

The questionnaires, the “Accra Agenda”, the “Declaration of Trinidad and Tobago” and document ICC/80/7 on the “Implementation of the Recommendations of the First and Second Roundtable Meetings for a Sustainable Cocoa Economy” were attached with ED(MEM) 923 and ED(MEM) 923/Rev.1.   To save paper and costs, these documents are not being re-circulated. They are available to download here.

The Regional Workshop for the ICCO SPS Cocoa Project in Africa took place 7 – 10 June 2011, in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

The Workshop was held at Hotel Mont Fébé in Yaoundé, and was hosted by the government of Cameroon.

Click here for more details of the Workshop and of the SPS Cocoa Project in Africa, available from the SPS section of the website.

At a Press Conference held on 25 March, 2011 and attended by the Chairman of the International Cocoa Council and the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Dr. Jean-Marc Anga, Executive Director a.i., reported on several of the topics reviewed by delegates at the March 2011 meetings.

Presentations made at the ICCO meetings of March 2011:

 African Capacity Building Foundation (ABCF) (Word document)

 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (PowerPoint presentation)