International Cocoa Council adopts key sustainability agreement
Cocoa farming in Ghana and Ivory Coast remains a key industry (pic, ICAM)
A renewed global cocoa sustainability charter has been renewed by the The International Cocoa Council (the decision making body of the ICCO) at its recent 106th regular session, in adopting the amended International Cocoa Agreement (ICA) which was originally struck in 2010, reports Neill Barston.
The move commits major actors in the sector to agree to revised guidelines that are considered ‘more forward-looking’ and better adapted to meet current challenges facing the world cocoa economy, includes a number of key changes.
This includes an indefinite duration of the Agreement (subject to review every five years), to bring more stability and sustainability to initiatives implemented under the Agreement, as well as realignment of the provisions of the Agreement with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure an accelerated development of the world cocoa economy.
Crucially, it also enables the introduction of a key objective in the Agreement with respect to achieving a living income for cocoa farmers and a reference to remunerative prices to reach economic sustainability.
There are also three new articles outlining specific measures to be carried out under the economic, social, and environmental pillars of sustainability, as well as reinvigorating attention on value addition, premium quality, and food safety.
The agreement also notes a requirement for supporting research and innovation in the cocoa value chain and expanding cooperation with more donor agencies for financing of cocoa development projects. With the above-mentioned and other changes, the amended ICA, 2010 is now more suitable to address emerging challenges in the world cocoa economy and a veritable tool for the development of national cocoa sectors.
The contracting parties to the ICA, 2010 must now complete their internal procedures to prepare and deposit a letter of notification of their acceptance of the amended Agreement with the Secretary-General of the United Nations in his capacity as the Depository of the Agreement.
Once the required number of exporting and importing Member countries of the Organization have accepted the amendments, the amended ICA, 2010 is expected to become effective by 1 October 2024.
