G/SPS/GEN/1624  
21 June 2018 
(18-3907) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) NO. 488/2014 OF 12 MAY 2014  
AMENDING REGULATION (EC) NO. 1881/2006 AS REGARDS  
MAXIMUM LEVELS OF CADMIUM IN FOODSTUFFS  
COMMUNICATION FROM PERU  
The following communication, dated 2 1 June 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Peru. 
 
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1.  Peru would like to reiterate before the WTO Members its specific trade concern regarding 
Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014 establish ing maximum l evels for cadmium in chocolate and other 
cocoa products, which will have a negative impact on trade in cocoa beans from Peru to the 
European Union and other international markets.  
2.  Peru is considered  by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) to be  a country that 
produces and exports fine or flavour cocoa, which accounts  for 75 % of overall production .1 
Cocoa activities in Peru involve 16 cocoa producing regions ( Amazonas, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, 
Cusco, Huánuco, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Pasco, Piura, Puno, 
San Martin, Tumbes and Ucayali ), 90,000 cocoa families, 136,000  hectares harvested and 
120,000  tonnes of cocoa produced.  
3.  In 2017, the value of cocoa exports exceeded US$236  million , accounting for about 0.54 % of 
Peru's total ex ports to the world for that year.2 
4.  At its 77th meeting, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) noted that 
it did not consider the contribution of products containing cocoa or cocoa products to total 
cadmium exposure for high consumers  of such products to be of concern.3 
5.  While it is true that Regulation 488/2014 does not establish maximum levels of cadmium in 
cocoa beans, some European importers use the maximum levels established by the Regulation for 
chocolate and cocoa powder to reduc e the international price to be paid for cocoa beans.  
6.  Peru considers the Regulation to be contrary to the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement), since it is based on an approach that considers the 
danger  of the maximum cadmiu m level in cho colate and other cocoa products, and not the risk 
that it could represent for human health.  
7.  Lack of access to the European market for cocoa beans, chocolate and cocoa products as a 
result of the levels set by the Regulation would not only cause commercial harm to exporting 
cocoa producers, but would also undermine the credibility for farmers of the alternative 
                                                
1 Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Estudio del Cacao en el Perú y en el Mundo: Un análisis de la 
producción y el comercio  (Study of Cocoa in Peru and the World: An Analysis of Production and Trade), 2016.  
2 Peru Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PROMPERU), 2018.  
3 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO). 
Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants . Seventy -seventh Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert 
Committee on Food Additives. 2013,  p. 75. G/SPS/GEN/1624  
- 2 - 
  development programmes being implemented with the help of international cooperation, including 
from the European Union.4 
8.  For the above reasons, Peru ask s the European Union to exclude chocolate and cocoa products 
from Regulation 488/2014 until it has updated scientific evidence of the risk level it represents for 
human health . Should this request no t be accepted and until the necessary risk analys es to 
provide scientific guarantees for accept able cadmium content in chocolate and other cocoa 
products have been completed, we would request that the time-period for  entry into force of the 
Regulation be extended until 1 January  2022. 
 
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4 Over the past six years, the EU has been active at the regional level, and in the case of Peru, has 
invested approxim ately €40  million in the fight against drugs and drug trafficking.