Brazilian cocoa farming is at risk of phytosanitary with the import of fermented almonds and dried cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire. The product of the African country enters Brazil without being treated with methyl bromide against pests and quarennal diseases. In addition to threatening national fruit plantations, this situation has the potential, in case of any adverse occurrence, to spread diseases in other crops, such as soybean, corn, rice, beans, sugarcane, sorrh and millet.

The warning is from the president of the National Association of Cocoa Producers (ANPC), Vanuza Barroso, when defending the rediscussion of Normative Instruction (IN) No. 125, of March 23, 2021, the Secretariat of Agricultural Defense (SDA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa). IN 125 eliminated the requirement of methyl bromide treatment for the entry of fermented and dried cocoa almonds from Côte d'Ivoire in Brazil.

The 2021 Map standard repealed IN No. 18 of April 28, 2020. This required fermented and dried cocoa almonds imported by Brazil from Côte d'Ivoire to be treated with methyl bromide at a dose of 48g/m3 at room temperature, with 24 hours of gas exposure, for the control of pests Caryedon serratus, Trogoderma granarium, Mussidia nigrivenella, Phytophthora megakarya and Striga spp.

"At a time when the Brazilian cocoa grower is recovering, after almost being decimated by the witch's broom in southern Bahia in the late 1980s, we now live with the risk of entry into the country of pests and quarennal diseases, such as Striga," says the president of ANPC. "If today this situation is a direct threat to cocoa, tomorrow it may extend to other crops, because Striga is a rapidly spreading disease."

According to her, IN 125 of The SDA/Mapa served the interests of multinationals operating in Brazil, represented by the National Association of Cocoa Processing Industries (AIPC).  AIPC is associated with Olam Agrícola, Barry Callebaut and Cargill Agrícola, which together process 97% of the national cocoa, in industrial units that generate more than 4,000 direct jobs.

In a letter sent to the then Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, Tereza Cristina, on July 20, 2020, the AIPC requested the repeal of the use of methyl bromide as a phytosanitary requirement for import from Côte d'Ivoire, with a view to banning the product in Ivorian territory for more than 10 years.

In the document, The AIPC claimed that the purchase of cocoa beans from Côte d'Ivoire was necessary to meet the installed capacity of the manufacturing industry, estimated at 275,000 tons. Data from 2021 show that Brazil produces about 198,000 t/year of cocoa and processes around 224,000 t, generating an internal deficit of 26,000 t.

"This deficit was supplied by imports, which were 60,000 tons last year, surpassing the need by 34,000 tons. And that same deficit was almost entirely covered with imports from Côte d'Ivoire. That is, with a cocoa almond that is not treated properly and endangers our cocoa production", reinforces the president of anpc.  

For Vanuza Barroso, the Map ignored cocoa producers when editing IN 125. "This measure has put at risk our only fully sustainable crop, our chocolate forest," he says, referring to southern Bahia and Pará, which account, along with Espírito Santo and Rondônia, for most of Brazil's cocoa production.

President ANPC considers urgent the need for the Map to review IN 125 so that Brazil can get rid of the threat of pests and quarennal diseases, such as Striga, known as witch grass. "There is a great deal of concern among cocoa producers about the risk to which we are exposed, especially in southern Bahia."

Most ivorian cocoa enters Brazil through the Port of Ilhéus. According to Vanuza Barroso, on-site inspection is an assignment of SDA/MAPA, which passed it on to Ceplac (Executive Committee of the Cocoa Farming Plan). "We have the information that the service was outsourced to a private company, which makes us even more concerned about the situation."

Source: Agrolink