Ivory Coast cocoa traceability rates fail to improve as EU anti-deforestation law looms

By May Angel

LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) – The amount of Ivory Coast cocoa that can be traced back to where it was grown remains at just under half, calling into question how the world’s top ​cocoa grower will manage to comply with the EU’s looming anti-deforestation ‌law, according to a new analysis by the non-profit Trase.

From December the law will require that EU importers of commodities and related goods prove their products weren’t grown on deforested land by, among other measures, tracing their raw materials back to the plot on which they ‌were ​grown.

According to Trase, only 48% of Ivory Coast’s 2024 ⁠cocoa exports can be traced ⁠back to the farming cooperatives that grew the beans, largely because the rest of the supply chain is “indirect” or comprised of several intermediaries.

The figures have not changed much since the non-profit’s prior analysis published two years ago.

“The ​prevalence of indirect supplies of cocoa and the resulting lack of visibility into its origins makes it very difficult for companies to address issues such ⁠as deforestation or child labour,” said Trase.

The ⁠EUDR has been hailed as a landmark in the fight ​against climate change but Brussels, which has twice delayed implementing the law, remains under ​pressure to delay it further and scale it back.

EU trade partners ‌including Brazil, Indonesia and, crucially, the U.S., say complying with the law is cumbersome and costly. As part of its trade deal with President Donald Trump, the EU committed to working to address U.S. concerns over the law.

Ivory Coast grows ⁠just over a third of the world’s cocoa and the EU is its largest trading partner, importing 66% of the country’s beans.

In order to help meet the EU ⁠regulations, Ivory Coast has ‌opted for a digitalised sales and purchasing system to ⁠facilitate verification.

Between 2000 and 2024, 79% of the West African ​nation’s ‌forests were lost or degraded, according to Trase, with cocoa ​expansion accounting ⁠for nearly half of forest loss during much of the period.

“Although overall rates of deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire have declined over the last decade, this is partly due to the limited amount of forest remaining,” said the non-profit.

Deforestation is the second leading cause of climate change after the burning of fossil fuels.

(Reporting by May ​AngelEditing by Keith Weir)