Hundreds of thousands of tons of coffee and cocoa beans may be destroyed in the EU due to violation of environmental standards – Kommersant

According to Financial Times (FT), large volumes of coffee and cocoa beans have accumulated in warehouses in EU countries, which may be destroyed due to the fact that these products were produced in violation of new EU environmental standards.

We are talking about the EU law to combat deforestation, which came into force in June. It, in particular, prohibits the sale in the EU of coffee, cocoa beans and natural rubber that were produced on areas obtained as a result of unauthorized or illegal deforestation, mainly in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Leading international commodity exchange Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the International Trade Center have already warned that such coffee and cocoa stored in EU warehouses must either be destroyed before the end of the transition period in December 2024 or sold outside the EU.

According to ICE, in total, about 200 thousand tons of coffee and 150 thousand tons of cocoa beans are currently stored in EU warehouses. It is not reported which part of them was produced in violation of environmental requirements. The FT notes that 70% of global cocoa production comes from African countries such as Ivory Coast and Ghana, where the problem of illegal deforestation and child labor is extremely acute.

The world’s largest coffee producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia, where environmentalists also have concerns about deforestation. “If this product is on the market before the end of the transition period, there is no problem,” FT quotes Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center. “But if its storage continues after the end of this period, (situation.— ”b”) will become much more difficult. After all, according to the new rules, the sale of such goods is impossible.”

Evgeny Khvostik