The European Union's Commissioner for Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, has stated that the EU's recently passed traceability policy requires that cocoa products entering the European market are not sourced from deforested or degraded land.

According to him, the traceability policy legislation is necessary to protect the environment.

Mr Sinkevicius added that the policy is essential for ensuring that all products entering the EU market are traceable and compliant with environmental regulations.

“The discussion went on for quite some time because we adopted legislation two years ago and two years were given for a transition period, so now we are aiming to have the legislation running since the beginning of the next year.”.

Ghana’s main cash crop, cocoa, cannot be exported into Europe unless evidence is provided that the Ghanaian cocoa is not sourced from recently deforested land or has contributed to forest degradation.

Currently, over 60 percent of cocoa produced in Ghana finds its way into the European market, but this will no longer be the case as usual.

The EU Commissioner clarified that the legislation is applicable to all nations and is not targeting any particular country.

Mr. Sinkevicius stressed that the policy is aimed at stemming the patronage of commodities that contribute to deforestation worldwide.

He further emphasised that the legislation is not intended to punish any nation but rather to protect the environment.

“Our consumption pattern is one of the reasons that drive deforestation, so therefore, this step by the EU is taking responsibility for our consumption pattern and ensuring that the supplier chain through which certain commodities reach the EU  is free of deforestation,” he said.