G/SPS/GEN/1646  
10 October  2018 
(18-6279) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
COMMISSION REGULATIO N (EU NO 488/2014 OF  12 MAY 2014 AMENDIN G 
REGULATION (EC NO 1881/2006 AS REGA RDS MAXIMUM  
LEVELS OF CADMIUM IN  FOOD STUFFS  
COMMUNICATION FROM P ERU 
The following communication, received on 9 October 2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Peru. 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  Peru w ould like once again1 to raise before WTO Members its specific trade concern with respect 
to Commission Regulati on (EU ) No. 488/2014 of 12 May 2014 amending Regulation (EC ) 
No. 1881/2006 as regards ma ximum levels of cadmium in food stuffs.  
2.  The European Union (EU) has thus far been unable to demonstrate that there is sufficient 
scientific evidence to support the new l imits imposed by  its legislation. Firstly, the J oint FAO/WHO 
Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) considers a food to represent a risk when it contributes 
5% or more of the maximum tole rable intake of the contaminant;  so that based on this parameter,  
there were no grounds for including chocolate and cocoa products  in Commission Regulation (EU) 
No. 488/2014 , since they  contribute only 4.3% to dietary cadmium exposure. Secondly, there is a 
serious inconsistency in the European Regulation in that it esta blishes the same maximum levels of 
cadmium (0.10 mg/kg) for potatoes and chocolate (up to 30% cocoa), in spite of the fact t hat 
potatoes contribute 13.2% to  overall dietary  exposure to cadmium2 – a much higher percentage 
than chocolate  – and have  a differe nt consumption pattern.  
3.  Cocoa activities in Peru involve 16 reg ions, 57 provinces and 259  producing districts, in which 
90,000 families are economically dependent on cocoa. Approximately 143,000 hectares are 
harvested ,3 of which 40% receive assistance unde r the Comprehensive and Sustainable Alternative 
Development Programme. Producers and exporters, including agricultural cooperatives and 
producers' associations, are chiefly l ocated in the high poverty areas for which the European m arket 
accounts for mor e than 75% of the value of  total exports, as was the case in 2017.4 Consequently, 
the new European legislation would chiefly affect the small and medium -sized cocoa producers, to 
whose economic development cocoa growing is vit al.5 
4.  Cocoa beans are a product of considerable commercial importance to Peru for a number of 
reaso ns. Firstly, cocoa is  the fifth most important product  at the national level  in terms of both area 
and number of producers.  Cocoa accounts for 3% of the  country's agricultural GDP, or  2% of its 
                                                
1 See documents G/SPS/GEN/1 587 of 30 October 2017, G/SPS/GE N/1602 of 9 February 2018, and 
G/SPS/GEN/1624  of 21 June 2018 on the same subject.  
2 European Food Safety Authority (2012). Cadmium dietary exposure in the European population. 
EFSA Journal , 10(1):2551. Taken from  
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2551 . 
3 Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, September 2018:  Situación y perspectivas: cadena del caca o y 
chocolate . 
4 SUNAT Aduanas.  
5 Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática , April 2018. Evolución de la pobreza monet aria 
2007-2017. Taken from  
https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/cifras_de_pobreza/informe_tecnico_pobreza_monetaria_2007 -2017.pdf . G/SPS/GEN/1646  
- 2 - 
  agriculture and livestock GDP .6 In terms of international trade, in 2017 exports of cocoa and cocoa 
preparations exceeded 236 million dollars and accounted for appro ximately 4% of total agriculture 
and livestock  exports. Coco a beans represent 76% of the total volume of exports of cocoa and cocoa 
preparations, and the leading market is the European Union, which receives more than 70% of total 
cocoa bean exports.7 It should be noted that although the new limits established by th e 
European  Union apply to chocolate and cocoa products and the legislation has not yet entered into 
force, they have a direct impact on  cocoa bean exports. It is known that certain buyers are already 
imposing the limits set forth  in Regulation (EU) No. 488 /2014 for chocolate and cocoa products and 
using them to cut the price of cocoa beans.  
5.  Regulation (EU) No. 488/2014 infringes Article 2.2 and Article 2.3 of the SPS Agreement because 
the maximum limits established for chocolate and cocoa powder are not bas ed on updated scientific 
principles with respect to the risk to human health of consuming these products, and because the 
practical application of these limits, inter alia  to cocoa beans (not included in the Regulation), is 
resulting in a disguised restric tion on international trade in cocoa beans and cocoa products.  
6.  Similarly, the Regulation violates Article 5.1 and Article 5.4 of the SPS Agreement, since no 
proper assessment was made of the risk to human health of the consumption of chocolate as a 
potent ial relevant  source of cadmium consumption. Nor was consideration given, when determining 
the appropriate level of sanitary protection of the European population, to the objective of minimizing 
the negative effects on trade in chocolate, cocoa powder and c ocoa beans  of applying t he limits set 
by the Regulation . 
7.  The entry into force of the European legislation would not only cause commercial  harm, as already 
mentioned, but it would also undermine Peru's joint efforts with the international community, 
includi ng the European Union, to combat illicit drug trafficking, in that Peruvian cocoa has become 
the second most important crop in the country under the comprehensive and sustainable 
programmes for the dev elopment of alternatives to coc a leaf production.8 The European Union is a 
strategic ally in the fight against  illicit drug trafficking, with  70% of c ocaine drugs confiscated  
destined for the European countries. At the same time, the implementation of Regulation (EU) 
No. 488/2014 would have a negative environm ental impact, since producers would no longer have 
any incentive to carry on producing cocoa and would return to  the illicit cultivation of coc a, potentially 
causing massive deforestation in the cocoa -growing areas.9  
8.  The application of limits as restricti ve as those set forth in Re gulation (EU) No.  488/2014 without 
having demonstrated any risk to human health of consuming chocolate and cocoa powder is the 
manifestation of a "zero risk" sanitary and phytosanitary policy that is at odds with the 
SPS Agreemen t which, although it allows Members to adopt sanitary measures to protect human 
health, does not entitle them, through such measures, to create  unjustified barriers to trade.  
9.  Finally, the Codex Alimentarius is working towards the adoption of a Codex standa rd for 
maximum cadmium levels in different types of chocolate and cocoa products. It is worth 
remembering, however, that decisions taken in this forum with respect to sanitary measures applied 
by Members must rely on current science and a risk -based approa ch, without instrumentalizing the 
adoption of a Codex standard to justify maximum cadmium levels in chocolate that do not corres pond 
to a risk to human health.  
10.  In view of the foregoing, Peru asks 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 and until the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) has been able to 
finalize the Codex standard that is currently under preparatio n, thereby avoiding unnecessary 
restrictions to trade. Should this request not be accepted and pending the completion of the risk 
analyses needed to provide scientific guarantees for acceptable cadmium content in chocolate and 
other cocoa products, we woul d request that the time -period for entry into force of the Regulation 
be extended until 1 January 2022.  
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6 Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, September 2018: Situación y perspectivas: cadena del cacao y 
chocolate . 
7 SUNAT Aduanas.  
8 Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, September 2018: Situación y perspectivas: cadena del cacao y 
chocolate . 
9 National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (2018).