Delegates from cocoa-producing countries in Africa have resolved to implement new measures, within the framework of a new project codenamed “COCOA SPS AFRICA”, to reduce the threat of pesticide residues and other harmful substances on cocoa beans meant for export. The professionals from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other cocoa promoting institutions, who were meeting for the closing ceremony of a four-day regional workshop on Friday June 10 in Yaounde, also resolved to create a regional cocoa stock market to tilt cocoa price-fixing mechanisms in favour of Africa that produces over 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa.
Featuring prominently among the delegates’ concerns were the need to harmonise their sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, procedures, update user manuals for the use of pesticides in cocoa farming, train personnel in phytosanitary tasks and disseminate manuals for Good Agricultural Practices, GAP, and Good Warehousing Practices, GWP. “This is a new era that will enable African countries build a new reputation for African cocoa,” said the Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade, Haman Oumar in his closing remarks wherein he also reiterated Cameroon government’s availability to assist and grant the necessary support for the success of the initiative.
The workshop that started on Tuesday June 7 was organised by the International Cocoa Organisation, ICCO, to officially launch the “COCOA SPS AFRICA” project that will build the capacities of African cocoa producing countries to mitigate the harmful effects of pesticide residues in cocoa and to maintain access to international markets. According to Dr. Jean-Marc Anga, ICCO’s interim Executive Director, the workshop was a response to a legislation passed by the European Union in September 2008 prohibiting the entry of cocoa beans detected with traces of contaminants from pesticide residues that are deemed harmful to the health of consumers. For four days, the participants were enlightened on the responsible use and stewardship of agrochemicals, good agricultural and warehousing practices in cocoa production and trade, regional cooperation on cross-border trade in illegal or adulterated agrochemicals and insights into a work on total diet study in relation to pesticide residues and mycotoxin.
