Ivory Coast’s cocoa regulator says the world’s largest cocoa producer is prepared to comply with new European Union anti-deforestation rules, but exporters and buyers are warning that a new traceability system could disrupt cocoa purchases and exports when the new season begins.
The EU’s anti-deforestation regulation, which takes effect at the end of December, requires companies to demonstrate that commodities including cocoa are not linked to deforestation.
The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) said Ivory Coast’s digital farmer identification system would enable the country to meet the requirements when the 2026/27 cocoa season begins on September 1.
CCC head Yves Brahima Kone said the digital identification cards, introduced in 2019, are designed to track cocoa from farms to export ports, verify its origin and help farmers access the state-guaranteed cocoa price.
“We are ready to prove that our cocoa is traceable and certified … The producer card is up and running and meets all the expectations of chocolate consumers,” Kone said, adding that the system had undergone two years of testing.
According to Kone, the cards will also provide more than one million small-scale cocoa farmers with access to the banking system for the first time.
The regulator estimates that Ivory Coast has between 1.2 million and 1.3 million cocoa farmers.
However, industry participants have raised concerns over the implementation of the new system, particularly as the new cocoa season gets underway.
Reuters spoke with nine cocoa buyers, seven exporters and four cooperative managers, several of whom warned that the rollout could create bottlenecks across the supply chain.
Farmers who have not received their identification cards, or those who have lost them, could potentially be prevented from selling their cocoa, the sources said.
They also pointed to a shortage of card-reading terminals as another potential obstacle to smooth implementation.
Beyond administrative challenges, industry participants questioned whether the system would be effective enough to prevent cocoa produced illegally in protected areas from entering the formal supply chain.
Ivory Coast estimates that cocoa produced in protected forests and national parks accounts for about 15% of national cocoa output, while exporters and European environmental groups estimate the figure could be closer to 30%.
Industry sources said illegally produced cocoa could still reach the ports of Abidjan and San Pedro and be mixed with legally produced beans.
They attributed the risk partly to difficulties in accurately determining the amount of cocoa individual farmers produce, meaning output can be estimated rather than precisely measured.
“We know the benefits of the card, but make no mistake: there will be a lot of problems, and it’s going to be chaos this season. The new European regulation on deforestation is too complex and difficult to implement on the ground,” the director of a European export company based in Abidjan said.
Another European export company executive warned that the new system could cause delays throughout the industry.
“There will be delays in purchasing, in exports, and throughout the entire supply chain. That’s undeniable,” the executive said.
The concerns highlight the challenge facing Ivory Coast as it attempts to balance the need for traceability and environmental compliance with the operational realities of a cocoa industry dominated by millions of small-scale farmers.
With the new cocoa season beginning in September and the EU regulation coming into force later in the year, the effectiveness of Ivory Coast’s digital traceability system will be closely watched by farmers, exporters, buyers and European chocolate companies.
