EU Cocoa Due Diligence
Guidance for Cocoa Producers and Importers: EU Deforestation Due Diligence
In September 2022, the European Union (EU) Parliament voted on regulation to prevent products associated with deforestation and forest degradation from being placed in the EU market.
For cocoa placed on the EU market to be considered ‘deforestation-free’, it must have been produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation after 31 December 2020; and to evidence compliance with these requirements, cocoa operators and traders must set up and implement a Deforestation Due Diligence Process. Additionally, to be compliant with the EU proposed deforestation-free regulation, cocoa must have been produced in compliance with the national laws of the producer country, including laws related to labour, human rights, and the environment.
Proforest has worked on a consultation with key actors in the cocoa supply chain to go through each stage of the due diligence legislation. After a number of collaborative workshops and webinars, we have summarised what cocoa supply chain companies will need to do to meet upcoming EU regulatory Deforestation Due Diligence (DDD) requirements.
The Operational Guidance for Cocoa Producers and Importers outlines the existing tools and approaches in the cocoa sector which can be used to conform with the upcoming EU regulatory DDD requirements, explaining for each step:
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the related main requirements from the upcoming EU deforestation-free regulation,
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the capability of existing tools and approaches to comply with these requirements,
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the implementation challenges of these requirements.
Download "EU Deforestation Due Diligence: Operational Guidance for Cocoa Producers and Importers" here
Download the full reference document "EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products: Reference Document for Cocoa Producers and Importers" here
The Operational Guidance and reference document have been produced as part of Proforest's Production Landscape Programme. They are part of a programme funded by the German Government's International Climate Initiative (IKI).
Company Landscape Engagement for Cocoa Sustainability
This paper, available to download below, is part of a global study on private sector engagement at landscape and jurisdictional scale and is conducted by the Tropical Forest Alliance (TFA) in collaboration with Proforest, CDP and others.
The study aims to advance understanding of landscape and jurisdictional approaches as a key corporate strategy towards nature-positive businesses and to map the way forward to mobilise more private sector action and multi-stakeholder collaboration at scale.
Through interviews and desktop research, the study explores why and how manufacturers, retailers and traders have used landscape and jurisdictional approaches to address deforestation driven by palm oil, soy, beef, pulp and paper, and cocoa. It also delves into other possible uses of these approaches, including to meet corporate climate, nature and people goals, and explains how companies can leverage and build on their efforts to collaborate with others to accelerate progress.
Download the TFA, Proforest and CDP paper - Company Landscape Engagement for Cocoa Sustainability
