The International Cocoa Council, at its special session held from 6 – 8 July 2021, extended the duration of the seventh International Cocoa Agreement by two years to 30 September 2024. The Agreement, which became operational from 1 October 2012, had an initial duration of ten full cocoa years and would have come to an end by 30 September 2022 unless extended by the Council.

The 7th International Cocoa Agreement, now in its nineth year, has been the basis of international cooperation among cocoa exporting countries, cocoa importing countries, and many other stakeholders working together toward achieving a sustainable world cocoa economy. The decision to extend the Agreement demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the 51 Members of the International Cocoa Organization to continue to work to strengthen the world cocoa economy and to support its sustainable development.

The International Cocoa Council has requested its chairman, Ambassador Aly Toure of Côte d’Ivoire to convey the decision to extend the duration of the 7th International Agreement to the Secretary General of the United Nations who acts as the depository of the Agreement.

The International Cocoa Council has also made significant progress in reaching consensus on the recommendations to amend the International Cocoa Agreement. The Council, agreed on about 95% of the recommended amendments to the Agreement. The Council will now finalize the review of the remaining recommendations for amendment at its next meeting in September 2021.

The proposed amendments will bring more clarity and simplification to a number of articles of the Agreement and to make their application and implementation more meaningful. More importantly, the proposed amendments will make it more relevant to the current developments in the world cocoa economy particularly by focusing objectives and actions towards achieving a better living income for cocoa farmers.