5 junio 2023
Presenting the Cocoa Operational Guidance at GISCO's 2023 General Meeting
11th General Meeting of the German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa in Bonn
Back in May, GISCO held their annual meeting with a special focus on 'Approaches to deforestation and climate change in the cocoa sector'. The General Meeting's presentations, discussions and workshops are held by invited scientists and experienced people in the field to discuss relevant topics.
The emerging EU regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) naturally held a significant space in the discussions, particularly on the concrete requirements for GISCO members. Proforest's co-founder and senior technical advisor, Neil Judd, presented our Operational Guidance on European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) for the cocoa sector.
In the reference document for cocoa producers and importers we synthesised existing best practices and tools for conducting supply chain Deforestation Due Diligence in the cocoa sector and identified key unanswered questions for regulators and companies. Throughout the document, potential negative impacts of Deforestation Due Diligence regulations are identified, and best practices to avoid them are discussed. The document is available in English and French and, tailored for the Latin American context, a version in Spanish.
In addition to this reference document, we developed an operational guidance intended for cocoa supply chain companies and focusing on the EU regulation on deforestation-free products. The operational guidance is a complementary, shorter, and more operational version of the reference document. It is available in English and French and, tailored for the Latin American context, a version in Spanish.