WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.13 
7 September 2011 
 (11-4361) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
  
 
APPLICANTS FOR OBSERVER STATUS 
 
Note by the Secretariat
1 
 
Addendum 
  1. An application for observer status in th e SPS Committee was received on 14 July 2011 from 
the International Cocoa Organi zation (ICCO) .  Information provided by the ICCO is summarized 
below. 
1. Membership (43) 
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and is without prejudice 
to the positions of Members or to their rights or obligations under the WTO. Austria 
Brazil Belgium Bulgaria Cameroon 
Cote d'Ivoire 
Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic 
Ecuador Estonia 
Finland France Gabon Germany 
Ghana 
Greece Hungary Ireland Italy 
Latvia Lithuania 
Luxembourg Malaysia Malta Netherlands 
Nicaragua 
Nigeria Papua New Guinea Poland Portugal 
Romania Russian Federation 
Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden 
Switzerland 
Togo Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom Venezuela  
 
With the exception of the Russian Federation, a ll member states of the ICCO are WTO Members.  
The Russian Federation has observer status  in WTO bodies as an acceding country. 
 
2. Mandate, Scope and Area of Work 
2. The International Cocoa Organi zation (ICCO) is a global organization, composed of both 
cocoa producing and cocoa consuming countries.  It w as established in 1973 to put into effect the first 
International Cocoa Agreement which was negotiate d in Geneva, at a Unite d Nations International 
Cocoa Conference .  The Sixth International Cocoa Agreemen t was negotiated in 2001 and came into 
force provisionally on 1 October 2003.  In June 2010 , the United Nations Cocoa Conference 
successfully concluded negotiations for the Seventh International Cocoa Agreement which will take 
effect in 2012.  
 3. The mission of the ICCO is to facilitate the functioning of the world cocoa market by 
bringing together both cocoa producing and cocoa consuming countries to work with representatives 
from the cocoa and chocolate private sector .  The mandate of the organization is to attain a sustainable 
world cocoa economy that incorporates social, economic and environmental factors in the production, G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.13 
Page 2  
 
  processing and consumption of cocoa.  This involves  the implementation of policies and projects 
aimed at increasing the incomes of cocoa farmers;  improving productivity on cocoa farms;  
improving the quality of beans;  enhancing the transparent functioning of the cocoa trade and;  
securing market access for producers.  The mandate of the ICCO is aimed at simultaneously 
improving the livelihood of cocoa farming communities whilst responding to consumer demands for 
food quality and safety.  It also aims to address environmental issues and social concerns.  
 4. For the first time, the current International Cocoa Agreement  (2001)  explicitly includes  a 
mandate to work towards the development of a sustainable world cocoa market.  The  concept of 
sustainability consists of three pillars:   environmental,  social and most importantly, economic.  These 
pillars should be applied to the production, trade, processing, manufacturing and consumption of 
cocoa.  The economic dimension of sustainability is crucial to the ICCO as the l ow incomes generated 
by smallholder cocoa farmers present a major concern.  Cocoa farming has to be efficient and 
productive to ensure decent remuneration for farmers . 
 
5. In June 2010, following consensus between exporting and importing countries, the United 
Nations Cocoa Conference successfully concluded negotiations on the International 
Cocoa Agreement 
(2010).  This Agreement will come into effect in October 2012 and is expected to result in increased 
cooperation between both exporting and importing member states.  It seeks to enable the improvement 
of cocoa sectors through an increased focus on project development and capacity-building strategies.  
The Agreement also looks to strengthening the implementation of measures that will lead to an 
increase in the income of cocoa farmers as well as assisting cocoa producers to improve the 
functioning of their cocoa economies.  These measures will improve the quality of exported cocoa  and 
ensure that farmers are rewarded for producing cocoa that meets both ethical and environmental 
considerations.  The Agreement will ass ist in the achievement of social, economic, and environmental 
goals. 
3. Contribution  to the Work of the SPS Committee 
6. Cocoa production is the main source of income for millions of smallholder cocoa farmers in 
Africa and Asia.  However, as the production methods of many cocoa farmers have not improved in 
the past five decades, yields have remained low.  Most cocoa farmers are very poor and lack improved 
cultivation practices to increase their incomes.  W ithout access to required inputs, they are unable to 
escape from poverty.  
 
7. Providing 70 per cent of the world's global cocoa output, Africa is the largest cocoa producer 
in the world.  Cocoa accounts for  a bulk of the foreign exchange earnings of Cameroon, Cote d 'Ivoire, 
Ghana, Nigeria and Togo  and is increasingly gaining  importance in many other countries such as 
Sierra Leone and Uganda.  However, low cocoa farmer incomes and questionable food quality and 
safety remain two of the biggest cha llenges within the African market.  To achieve a sustainable 
cocoa economy, there is a need to address these concerns by  increasing the incomes of cocoa farmers , 
and delivering "total quality " cocoa.  These objectives can be met by implementing capacity-building 
initiatives within cocoa producing countries that will result in quality and safety improvement, which 
will help increase farmer incomes, and also promote the sustainable use of natural resources  for the 
benefit of future generations.  
 
8. With the assistance of the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), t he ICCO has 
developed a project which aims to mitigate the harmful effects of pesticide re sidues and other harmful 
substances in cocoa, and hence maintain market access.   Implementation of this project recently 
started in five cocoa producing countries in West Africa (Cameroon, Côte D'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and 
Nigeria)  with the support of the STDF and other bilateral donors.  The project is designed as a 
regional "umbrella" programme, with independe nt country-specific activities and corresponding  G/SPS/GEN/121/Add.13 
 Page 3 
 
 
  budgetary allocations, as well as a numb er of inter-linked regional activities.   It includes the following 
key components:  
 creating awareness among cocoa farmers and other stakeholders along the cocoa supply chain 
about SPS standards in cocoa; 
 enhancing the capacity of relevant stakeholders  to apply the rational pesticide use component 
of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Warehouse Practices (GWP); 
 enhancing institutional capacity in-country to  monitor and enforce adherence to SPS 
standards in cocoa;  and 
 strengthening regional collabora tion to support institutional capac ity in individual countries to 
apply SPS standards in cocoa. 
 9. Obtaining  observer status  in the SPS Committee meetings would improve the ICCO's role of 
coordination amongst its member states  by ensuring their compliance with international  standards that 
seek to  protect animal, plant and human health.  The ICCO would also be able to assist its members to 
participate more effectively in the SPS meetings.  
4. Reciprocity  
10. As an inter-governmental organization, ICCO cannot put certain high level documents of a 
sensitive nature in the public domain , but will readily share information concerning all technical and 
SPS-related matters with the WTO SPS Committee secretariat and other stakeholders upon request.  
 
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