By Faridat Salifu
Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, traced the origin of nearly half its cocoa beans in the 2024–25 season as it prepares to comply with the European Union’s landmark anti-deforestation law, according to a new sustainability report.
The Cocoa Barometer, published by the VOICE Network, a coalition of civil society groups, revealed that approximately 40% of Ivorian cocoa was traceable during the season spanning October to September. While this figure falls short of the requirements under the EU’s incoming regulation, officials say more progress is expected in the current season.
The EU deforestation regulation, originally slated to take effect on December 30, 2024, is now expected to be delayed by another year. The law would ban the import of cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, beef, and other products linked to deforestation, unless importers can prove their goods were produced without harming forests.
VOICE Network director Antonie Fountain told Reuters that Ivory Coast is on track to significantly increase traceability this season through a digitalised sales and purchasing system, which includes issuing digital ID cards to around 900,000 of the country’s 1 million cocoa farmers.
“The only way to ensure full compliance is for the law to come into effect,” Fountain said.
The report also criticised the EU’s political backtracking, saying a shift to the right had led to widespread funding cuts for sustainability efforts.
“The regulatory unreliability of the EU is causing severe damage to planetary protection,” Fountain and co-author Friedel Huetz-Adams wrote.
The planned delay to the law has been welcomed by several industry groups and trade partners, including Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States. Washington, in particular, has raised concerns that compliance could prove expensive for U.S. producers. Under a prior trade agreement with former President Donald Trump, the EU pledged to address U.S. concerns about the legislation.
Despite the uncertainty, Ivory Coast’s push for traceability marks a significant step toward improving transparency and sustainability in the cocoa supply chain an industry long plagued by deforestation, child labour, and poor farmer incomes.
Source: Reuters