Dominican Republic was selected to lead the International Council of the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) for the cocoa year 2022-2023, at the last meeting of that body held in Montpellier, France.
The director of this Council is Abel Fernández, commercial manager of the Conacado Group, which was proposed by José Antonio Martínez Rojas, permanent representative of the Dominican Republic before the ICCO.
Fernández’s choice was approved by the group of cocoa exporting countriesmembers of the ICCO, and accepted by importing countries.
At the 37th Extraordinary Meeting of the ICCO International Council, held last December, Víctor Hidalgo Zapata, executive director of the National Cocoa Commission, and Juan Hinojosa Gómez, director of the Cocoa Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, participated.
It is the second time that the Dominican Republic directs the International Council of the ICCO. The first time was for the cocoa year from October 2001 to September 2002, and it fell to Martínez Rojas.
The cocoa organism groups the Cocoa producing and consuming countries that account for 90% of world trade of this product, and especially fine and aroma cocoa and organic or certified organic cocoa, of which Dominican Republic is the world export leaderTherefore, this second election in the ICCO International Council is a recognition of our country.
When Martínez Rojas headed that Council, the transfer of the ICCO headquarters from London, United Kingdom, to the city of Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast, was approved.
The International Cocoa Organization was created in 1973 to administer, as an intergovernmental organization, the International Cocoa Agreement of 1972 and the subsequent agreements of 1975, 1980, 1993, 2001 and 2010, negotiated by the governments of producing, exporting, consuming countries. and importers, under the auspices of the United Nations Convention Conference, in Geneva, Switzerland.
ICCO’s mandate is to cAchieving a sustainable global cocoa economywhich encompasses the social, economic and environmental dimensions of cocoa production, processing and consumption.
Also, the mandate of the ICCO is intended to improve the standard of living of cocoa communities, and at the same time seeks to satisfy the demands of consumers in terms of food quality and safety and address issues of an environmental and social nature.
ICCO member cocoa producing countries are Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Indonesia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea , Congo, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and Togo.
In addition, the importing countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Countries Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, EDspaña, Slovenia, Sweden, Russia and Switzerland.