Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, has successfully traced nearly half of its cocoa beans as part of preparations for the European Union’s upcoming anti-deforestation law. According to the Cocoa Barometer report released by the VOICE Network, about 40% of cocoa beans in the 2024-25 season were traced back to their origins.
The EU law, which was initially set to begin on December 30 but is now expected to be delayed by a year, requires importers of cocoa and other key commodities to prove that their products are not linked to deforestation. Failure to comply could result in heavy fines.
Although the Ivory Coast’s current tracing level falls short of the requirements, experts believe the country will increase its capacity this season. The government has already introduced a digitalised sales and purchasing system to track cocoa and issued digital ID cards to about 900,000 of its one million farmers.
Antonie Fountain, director of the VOICE Network, said that the Ivory Coast could meet much higher tracing targets soon, but stressed that the EU law must be enforced without further delays to ensure sustainability. The report also criticized political shifts in Europe that have cut funding for environmental protection, warning of risks to global climate goals.
The EU’s plan to delay the law follows pushback from industries and trade partners, including Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States, which argue that compliance costs could be too high. Despite these challenges, environmental groups say the law is vital to reducing the 10% of global deforestation linked to EU imports.
Ivory Coast, which supplies about two-thirds of its cocoa to the EU, is expected to ramp up tracing efforts to secure access to the European market and align with sustainability requirements.
