46 ICCO REPORT
Although the political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, unresolved at the time of their latest meeting in London, was not discussed formally by ICCO members, it was never far from delegates’ minds, as Robin Stainer reports
not only the long-term security of future supplies of the commodity, but also the smooth running of the ICCO itself (see C&CI, March 2011, page48). Recent events in Côte d’Ivoire are a
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distraction the agency could well do without, as it seeks to drum up support for the new (2010) International Cocoa Agreement (ICCA) negotiated last year (see C&C1, September 2010, page 46) and begins serious consideration of both where it should base itself over the longer term and who should be its new permanent chief executive. Moreover, as far as bringing the new cocoa pact into force is concerned, and thus guarantee- ing the ICCO’s survival, time is not on the agency’s side.
Member countries slow to ratify
The current (2001) ICCA expires at the end of September 2012 and cannot be renewed, but, by the beginning of April, only Switzerland had signed the new pact – the first stage of membership. The second stage is ratification, or its legal equivalent, which can be a very lengthy procedure in some countries. At the ICCO’s March 18-25 meeting,
the agency’s acting executive director, Jean-Marc Anga, urged all member countries to complete the necessary procedures so that that the new ICCA could come into force as soon as possi- ble. This will happen once the pact has been ratified, or the executive branch of government’s signature otherwise endorsed, by "at least five exporting countries accounting for at least 80 per cent of the total exports" and "importing
countries having at least 60 per cent of total imports". "If the requirements for entry into
force… have not been met by 1 September 2011," according to the text of the ICCA, "the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shall, at the earliest time practicable, convene a meeting of those Governments which have deposit- ed instruments of ratification, accept- ance, approval or accession, or have notified the Depositary that they will apply this Agreement provisionally. These Governments may decide whether to put this Agreement into force definitively or provisionally among them-
f the situation there is not quickly nor- malized the instability in the world’s biggest supplier of cocoa will threaten
Situation in Côte d’Ivoire casts pall over proceedings
The agency’s acting executive director, Jean-Marc Anga, says certification is inevitable for the cocoa farmers grow
selves, in whole or in part, on such date as they may determine or to adopt any other arrangement as they may deem necessary."
Abidjan visit will go
ahead if possible At their latest meeting, ICCO members reaffirmed their decision taken last September to postpone for a year con- sideration of Côte d’Ivoire’s invitation to relocate its headquarters from London to Abidjan. It had been made in 2001 by President Laurent Gbagbo and formally accepted by the agency the following year, but not followed through because of the country’s civil war and continuing violence in its aftermath. It is unclear whether Alassane Ouattara, international- ly recognized winner of the November 2010 Ivorien presidential election, sup- ports the offer of a home to the ICCO, but at the beginning of April one thing was clear. Delegates said that, with Gbagbo still
refusing to accept defeat, continuing vio- lence between the two rivals’ camps and no certainty of peace over the longer term, Abidjan would not be a safe home for the ICCO. However, the ICCO has yet to con-
cede this, so the pretence is being kept up that the agency may still decided to move to the country in the short term. For instance, the plan still is for Anga, who is an Ivorien, to visit the country this summer to assess the security situation and report back to the agency’s govern- ing Council in September. "It is still my intention to visit in due
time, provided the circumstance allow," he said at the end of the ICCO’s latest meeting, when he declined to comment on rumours that several other countries would be ready to step in with offers of a new home for the agency the moment a move to Abidjan were ruled out.
May 2011 C&CI
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