Briefing 3: EU & UK regulations on deforestation and the social and environmental challenges facing the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire.
The EUDR and the UK Environment Act could encourage legislative reform and improved
governance in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire. In particular, the EUDR producer country benchmarking could provide an incentive for Côte d’Ivoire to improve forest governance. In the interest of Côte d’Ivoire and given that a robust traceability system is necessary to comply with EUDR requirements, Côte d’Ivoire has the opportunity to strengthen its national centralised traceability system, ensuring transparency, a consistent approach, and ownership of the information flow. In addition, drawing up non-exhaustive lists of national and sub-national laws would facilitate due diligence requirements for operators and controls for the competent authorities in the Member States, and would make it possible to initiate legal and institutional reforms where areas of complexity, ambiguity or contradiction are identified. The EUDR is also an opportunity for Côte d’Ivoire to strengthen its strategy to eliminate child labour on cocoa farms, with the support of partners such as the EU and the UK. Although the regulations do not directly affect the price of cocoa beans or producers’ livelihoods, their implementation could have indirect repercussions. Partnerships and cooperation mechanisms are essential to support smallholders and assess the impact of regulations. Close collaboration between the EU, Côte d’Ivoire and civil society is essential for effective implementation of regulations and for tackling both consumer-led and national causes of deforestation and poverty in the cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire.
Area of focus: Cocoa
Author(s): Dr. Raphaël Kra, Raphaëlle Godts, Caroline Haywood
Organisation/institution: ClientEarth