G/SPS/GEN/ 1906  
20 May 2021 
(21-4229) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
EUROPEAN UNION  RESTRICTIONS ON EXPORTS OF CHOCOLATE AND COCOA  
PRODUCTS DUE TO THE APPLICATION OF COMMISSION REGULATION (EU)  
NO. 488/2014 OF 12 MAY 2014 AMENDING REGULATION  
(EC) N O. 1881/2006 AS REGARDS MAXIMUM LEVELS OF  
CADMIUM IN FOODSTUFF S (NO. 503) 
COMMUNICATION FROM PERU  
The following communication, received on 2 5 March  2021, is being circula ted at the request of the 
delegation of Peru. 
_______________  
 
 
1.  Peru would like to present to WTO Members its trade concern with respect to Commission 
Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014 of 12 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 as regards 
maximum lev els of cadmium in foodstuffs. In specific terms, the European Regulation establishes 
maximum levels for cadmium in chocolate and other cocoa products that, in practice, have a negative 
impact on trade in cocoa beans and cocoa  powder . 
2.  First, Peru would like to highlight the trade performance and social importance of the cocoa 
production chain : 
a. Peru presents comparative advantages in production and trade in the cocoa production 
chain, especially with regard to cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cocoa paste an d cocoa powder ; 
b. Exports from this chain exceeded USD  278 mill ion in 2020.1 While exports have decreased  by 
5.6% in relation to 2019, the chain's export potential is estimated at over  USD 165 million ;2 
c. Peru is the world's ninth largest producer of cocoa beans. Cocoa -related activity has a 
decentralizing and inclusive impact in Peru. It involves  16 cocoa -producing regions3, 90,000 
cocoa -producing  families, a harvested area of 136,000 hectares and a n outp ut of 108,000 
tonnes . Women participate extensively in agricultural cocoa production, and account for 
21.3% of all producers ;4 
d.  In Peru, c ocoa is considered the second m ost important  alternative pr oduct to illicit crops , 
after coffee .5 
3.  Second , Peru considers  Commission Regulation  (EU) No. 488/2014 to be in violation of Article 2 
of the SPS Agreement , for the following reasons : 
a. It is not based on scientific principles or on an international standar d, as no standard  has 
yet been finalized. At the 77th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food 
Additives (JECFA)  in 2013 , it was stated  that the levels of cadmium in cocoa were not 
 
1 Information based on data from the National Supervisory Authority for Customs and Tax 
Administration (SUNAT).  
2 Information based on data from the ITC Export Potential Map.  
3 Amazonas, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huánuco, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto, Madre de 
Dios, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martin, Tumbes and Ucayali.  
4 Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation  (MIDAGRI) (2019). Cocoa chain performance analysis . 
Lima: MIDAGRI.  
5 Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) (2019). Cocoa chain performance analysis . 
Lima: MIDAGRI.  G/SPS/GEN/1906  
 
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  considered a risk to public health . The European Union should have taken this into account 
when developing  its Regulation. In this regard,  it should be noted  that the justification for 
the European Regulation is based  on earlier JECFA reports, and not the 2013 report ;6 
b. According to t he statements made by FAO on behalf of the JECFA Secretariat at the 42nd 
Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in July 2019,  dietary exposure to cadmium 
from cocoa is insignificant compared to other sources of dietary exposure and does not 
amount to a public health concern ;7 
c. Document  JECFA/91/SC  of 5 March 2021 indicat es that t he cadmium contribution of cocoa 
products continues to be minor, even in countries where  the consumption of such products 
is high .8 
4.  Third, the negative consequences of the European Regulation must be emphasized : 
a. There is complementarity in Peruvi an trade in cocoa and cocoa products with the European 
Union, which has made it possible to consolidate Peru's comparative advantages in that 
market .9 However , since the entry into force of the European Regulation in 2019, exports of 
cocoa and cocoa produ cts to the European Union have decreased and have had to be 
redirected to Asian markets, where the purchase value of cocoa is up to 30% lower;  
b. In fact , in 2020, exports of cocoa and cocoa products to the European Union fell by 5.59% 
compared to exports in 2019. Furthermore, Peruvian exports of cocoa and cocoa products 
to the European Union have fallen at an average annual rate of  -10.79%  over the last five 
years ;10 
c. European producers, without technical or regulatory justification, are specifying  maximum 
levels for cocoa beans. The maximum level requirements range from 0.7 to 0.8 ppm in the 
case of German buyers and up to 1.0 ppm for Dutch and French buyers .11 Further more, 
cocoa bean purchase orders from Spanish importers state that a "cadmium certificate"  is 
required, even though this product is not regulated . 
d. European importers also want to know the cadmium levels in cocoa powder, and state 
that "due to the new Europ ean Union regulation, your cocoa powder must contain less than 
0.6 mg of Cd"12, even where this product is not  intended for final consumption and, 
therefore, not regulated by Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014 . In practice, the European 
Regulation is being used for all cocoa powder, regardless of the risk that it may pose. This 
situation is made worse by the inaccurate  messages sent out by the European Union, which 
indicate that a maximum cadmium level of 0.6 ppm  is applicable  to all cocoa powder13. Peru 
has bilaterally requested that such messages be rectified . 
e. The maximum levels have thus become a trade negotiation tool used against producers, 
rather than a tool for protecting human health. In this respect, it should be noted that 
producers consider  a secure market for cocoa to be one of the most important factors for 
remaining in this sector , together with a good selling price and the ability to adapt to climatic 
 
6 The full report of the 77th JECFA meeting is available at : 
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/98388/1/9789241209830_eng.pdf . 
7 The full report of the 42nd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission is available at : 
www.fao.org/fao -who-codexalimentarius/sh -
proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex %252FMeetings%2
52FCX -701-42%252FReport%252FREP19_CACe_Final.pdf . 
8 The document is available at : https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default -source/food -
safety/jecfa/summary -and-conclusio ns/jecfa91 -1to12march2021 -summary -and-
conclusions.pdf?sfvrsn=1d79351f_5 . 
9 Information based on  the trade complementarity index developed by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and 
Tourism of Peru  (MINCETUR).  
10 Information based on data from the National Supervi sory Authority for Customs and Tax 
Administration (SUNAT ). 
11 G/SPS/GEN/1870 . 
12 Direct q uote from correspondence  from European buyers . 
13 EU factsheet:  
https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/cs_contaminants_catalogue_cadmium_chocolate
_en.pdf . G/SPS/GEN/1906  
 
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  conditions14; however , price reductions greater than 10% have an impact on the 
cocoa -based alternative development strategy, since they cause the profitability of cocoa to 
decline in relation to that of coca15. 
f. Around  44% of Peruvian cocoa bean producers , i.e. more 39,600 families,  have been 
impacted by the European Union Regulation, in part icular those from alternative 
development zones, such as San Martín, Huánuco, Ucayali and Junín, where 80% of Peru's 
cocoa is produced16. 
5.  Fourth , Peru would like to refer once again to the case presented at the WTO SPS Committee 
meeting in Novem ber 202017. In this regard, it was explained that a specific  company had exported 
100 and 140 tonnes of cocoa powder in 2017 and 2018, respectively . However , given that , in 
practice , European importers specify a maximum level of 0.6 ppm ( even where  the cocoa powder is 
not intended for final consumption), the company was only able to export 40 tonnes in 2019, and 
was unable to make any sales in October, November and December of 2020 . Last year, this Peruvian 
company's total exports amounted to only 25 tonnes . 
6.  In light  of the above, Peru calls upon the European Union to rescind Commission Regulation (EU) 
No. 488/2014 with respect to chocolate and other cocoa products, since it is inconsistent with the 
WTO SPS Agreement and creates unnecessary barriers to trade . 
________ __ 
 
14 Ministry of Agrarian Develo pment and Irrigation (MIDAGRI) (2019). Cocoa chain performance 
analysis. Lima: MIDAGRI . 
15 G/SPS/GEN/1870 . 
16 G/SPS/GEN/1870 . 
17 G/SPS/GEN/1870 , paragra ph 13.