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Ghana starts pilot program to trace cocoa as EU deforestation law looms, authorities states

Ghana is piloting a system that traces cocoa beans from farm to port as it prepares for a. new EU law banning the import of products linked to. deforestation, a government official said on Thursday.

The landmark brand-new law, which could in time improve international. product markets, comes into impact end of December.

It needs EU importers of coffee, cocoa, soy, palm,. lumber, beef and rubber to prove their supply chains are not. contributing to deforestation anywhere in the world, or be fined. approximately 4% of their turnover.

We have polygon-mapped all the cocoa in Ghana, developed. an end-to-end traceability system and successfully piloted. ( it), Michael Amoah, from Ghanaian cocoa regulator Cocobod,. told a webinar arranged by ecological non-profit groups Fern. and Mighty Earth.

Getting ready to abide by the brand-new EU law is critical for. Ghana. About 60% of the cocoa the nation grows is exported to. the EU and the market utilizes about 17% of Ghana's working. population.

Nearly all the farmers growing cocoa in Ghana, the world's. second largest cocoa manufacturer, are smallholders based in remote. rural areas who, without government support, may have a hard time to. comply with the law's requirements.

These consist of providing purchasers of their goods with. geolocation co-ordinates that prove their farms are not located. on land deforested after 2020.

We are hoping what we have actually done will enable us to record a. higher percent of the EU market, stated Amoah.

Some commodity manufacturers from Indonesia to Brazil have. criticised the EU law, stating it is protectionist and could end. up omitting susceptible, small farmers from accessing the. bloc's lucrative market.

Deforestation is the second leading reason for devastating. climate change after the burning of fossil fuels.

(source: Reuters)