To combat deforestation, the European Union has adopted a new regulation, in 2023, so that products from several sectors, including cocoa, entering the European market are “zero deforestation”. Max Havelaar France calls on public authorities and the industry on the means allocated to cocoa farmers to enable them to meet the requirements of this new text.
The European Union has just adopted a new regulation that requires companies to prove that products placed on the European market do not cause deforestation.. They will therefore have to trace the origin of the products from the plot of land where they were produced.. This new regulation aims, in part, to protect forests, which provide livelihoods to the equivalent of almost four times the population of the European Union. Nevertheless, the new regulations are based on a traceability system, technical and human. To export to Europe, cocoa cooperatives will be obliged to implement tools, often complex digital mapping, including GPS data. They will have to download traceability data allowing them to compare the location of agricultural plots and satellite photos of classified forests.. This has a cost. Or, the majority of the five million small cocoa producers on whom production is based live in conditions of poverty linked to the low price paid for the beans. Compliance with this new regulation requires financial resources well beyond what they have available.. They are not able, today, to prove their compliance with the new regulations.
L'appel de Max Havelaar France
“Choosing between feeding your family and fighting deforestation, it's not a choice ! We must give more economic resources to producers ! » explains Blaise Desbordes, Managing Director of Max Havelaar France. “Cocoa farmers in poverty cannot invest, in the current state, in more efficient and sustainable production methods. Ensuring a minimum living income is the sine qua non condition for sustainability, and the first step to address the environmental and social issues of the sector. » Max Havelaar France asks the European Union, but also to businesses, ensure that all measures adopted in legislation against deforestation include equity and social justice as essential elements. The association calls for the immediate completion of a study on the number of cocoa farmers at risk of being impacted. Study that would make it possible to respond “through urgent and significant measures” to the compliance needs of small operators.
Fair trade chocolate, best path to sustainable cocoa
“One of the main levers for making the cocoa sector sustainable is the evolution of the sector towards a better distributed value, in a fair manner”, estime Max Havelaar France. For the association, this valuation must include a vital income for the work of cocoa farmers “who only receive around 7% of the value of a bar when distribution (40 %) and manufacturing (40 %) take the lion’s share. » “This sufficient remuneration is a human right recognized by the UN and the International Labor Organization (OIT) », ajoute Max Havelaar France. Despite a rapidly growing fair trade market in 2022 (+19 %), the consumption of fair trade cocoa remains a limited act in France : on 11 kg of chocolate consumed by a household per year, only 700 grams is fair.
A CAMPAIGN “WHICH WORKS”
On the occasion of World Cocoa Day, Sunday October 1st, Max Havelaar France launched the “which is a stain” campaign to denounce the working and living conditions of cocoa producers. From Wednesday September 27 and throughout the week, chocolate stains appeared on social networks, in the Paris metro, on YouTube and elsewhere. Everyone could make a contribution by sharing a chocolate-stained sticker and using the hashtag #LeChocolatCaTache.
FAIR FAIR CHOCOLATE AT MAX HAAVELAR
The strong growth, in 2022, of fair trade chocolate sales came from 2,196 labeled products containing Fairtrade/Max Havelaar cocoa marketed on the French market. Very varied products, ranging from the traditional chocolate bar to spread or even ice cream. More than 15,400 tonnes of cocoa beans were sold under Fairtrade/Max Havelaar fair trade conditions in France in 2022. Retailers with predominantly own brands such as Aldi, Lidl and Action, experienced good performance with a 19% increase in turnover generated by the sale of Fairtrade/Max Havelaar labeled chocolate products.
