Regulatory Matters - Updating obsolete legislation on export packaging for cocoa: the ongoing saga with Ivory Coast (and Cameroon)

In the late 90s, CAOBISCO, and later ICCO, reported the noxious effect of mineral hydrocarbon batching oils used at the time in jute bag production. Investigations demonstrated that replacing mineral hydrocarbon batching oil by mineral oil would solve the problem. Accordingly, both CAOBISCO and ICCO agreed on more stringent specifications for jute bags, now adopted by most producers.

Ivory Coast

The Ivory Coast promulgated in 2001 a Decree which incorporated these new jute bag specifications, requiring all cocoa beans to be thenceforth exported exclusively in appropriate jutes bags. However, over the preceding period the overseas transport of beans evolved, as was already the case for most soft commodities, towards containerized bulk and megabulk , which now represents between 800 and 900,000 tons per year of cocoa to Europe alone.

ECA is a prime player in addressing this issue, by clearly stating its opposition to parts of the decree, and appealing for an amendment to the export packaging component of the decree.

For reasons unknown, possibly to protect its domestic jute bag production, the Ivorian authorities then fallaciously claimed the ICCO and CAOBISCO had recommended solely jute bags for transport of cocoa beans. Yet neither the ICCO or CAOBISCO ever oppose the shift towards bulk or big bag transport of cocoa overseas, or express any quality reservation linked to such form of transport. This is confirmed by CAOBISCO's 2002 statement .

A visit in July 2003 of Member facilities in Amsterdam , by an official Ivorian delegation, helped ECA dispel their concerns, e.g. regarding blending of cocoa from different origins, and demonstrated that the four other major cocoa producers producing countries already exported in bulk.

To date, neither ECA nor the European Commission have received any official answer, nor seen affirmative action from the Authorities, despite numerous efforts over the last four years to defend our position through:

• several letters to the Ministers involved: letters dated 25 October 2002, 24 September 2002 and 6 December 2001
• meetings with, among others, Prime Minister Mr N'Guessan, Dr Douati, Minister of agriculture and animal resources, and his colleagues from Commerce and Industry; also with H.E. Mrs Marie Gosset, Ambassador to the Benelux countries and to the E.U.
• the establishment, in August 2003, by the European Commission (DG Trade) of a Note Verbale to formally approach the Ivorian Authorities on the basis of a Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT),

Cameroon

A similar situation exists in Cameroon, with regard to its packaging decree of 1997. Here it would appear ECA efforts, alongside those of its members and other players, have been conclusive: the Cameroon's Assembly (Parliament) met on 15 June 2004, among other matters, to amend the commercial law, leading to the forthcoming revision of the packaging component of the cocoa decree.

We thank Mr Essomba Abanda, Secretary General of the Ministry for Industrial and Commercial Development, and Mr Bomia Mathie, (now retired) General Manager of the National Institute for Cocoa and Coffee, who led the Cameroon delegation in Amsterdam, and spent a day and a half reviewing the issue with our Members. Mr Essomba Abanda was at the time also the Chairman of ICCO's Executive Committee, which clearly confirms ICCO's position regarding the matter.