Developing legal frameworks and due diligence guidelines for cocoa production in West and Central Africa
Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun are key countries producing global cocoa. Cocoa is the country's main cash crop in Côte d’Ivoire, where the EU has the largest share of the cocoa export market, importing more than 60% of Ivorian production. Companies under EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) requirements will be required to carry out due diligence prior to the export or placing on the market of their cocoa product to provide sufficient information to guarantee that the product carries a zero or negligible risk of deforestation and illegality.
The EUDR mandates that operators and traders exporting cocoa to the EU conduct due diligence to ensure their products pose zero or negligible deforestation and legality risks. For the latest, they must verify compliance with the relevant laws of the producing country, addressing various legal aspects such as land rights, environmental protection, and labour rights.
In Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun, where governance is relatively weak and legal frameworks are complex, European importers face challenges in proving compliance with these regulations. They must either show that local laws are clear and effectively enforced or demonstrate risk mitigation through documentation and audits.
Different operators, EU competent authorities and producing countries’ governments may also have slightly different understandings of what specific legal requirements are covered under the EU Deforestation Regulation, as well as what are the appropriate due diligence and risk mitigation measures to implement. Such discrepancies in understanding can lead to difficulties in implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation and ensuring the legal production of cocoa.
- Governments from cocoa-producing countries
- Private sector within producing countries
- The private sector importing cocoa into the EU market
- EU Competent Authorities
- Civil society and other relevant stakeholders
- The main objective of the project is to facilitate responsible sourcing of cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun, particularly for the operators under due diligence requirements from the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
- The project focuses on the EUDR legality principle, whereby operators importing cocoa must demonstrate that it has been produced legally according to the legal framework in the country where it has been grown and harvested.
The project will focus on the following activities:
- Compile the relevant legal requirement into a comprehensive cocoa legality framework for Côte d’Ivoire using a consensual, multi-stakeholder approach.
- Based on the legal frameworks and field realities, develop due diligence guidelines for operators sourcing cocoa for Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun.
- Inclusion of guidelines on how government-based certifications (i.e. ARS-1000) and voluntary private certifications (i.e. Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance) can support the implementation of due diligence for the EUDR legality criteria, including through benchmarking the coverage of legality requirements by the schemes.
- Gather feedback and input from stakeholders and update output accordingly to ensure consensus and practicality.
- Ensuring that the legality frameworks and due diligence guidelines for Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun are harmonised and comparable.
Project Details:
Title
Analysis of the legal framework for cocoa production and trade in Côte d'Ivoire / Harmonisation of cocoa legality studies in Côte d’ivoire, Ghana and Cameroun
Chloé Viala
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