Costa Rica and Canada have recognized the equivalence of regulations governing the accreditation and certification of organic agricultural products in both countries.
This agreement "... allows free passage for Costa Rican exporters, dedicated to this subsector, to export to the U.S. market," noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.
Rice, bananas, banana purée, cocoa, coffee, sugarcane, blackberries, oranges, noni, pineapples, aloe, legumes, vegetables, fruits and spices are some of the organic products that can enter the Canadian market.
Costa Rican cacao is the finest in the world, but the country lacks the technology to process it, and the chocolate consumed is mostly imported.
According to an article in Elfinancierocr.com, "Two projects developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE by its initials in Spanish) have focused since 2007 on increasing the quantity and quality of crops" This has allowed a rise in cultivation and production of cocoa, which after the attack of a pest in the 80s, was practically nil.
The sustained growth in demand for cocoa will continue next season, with prices exceeding $2,600 per tonne.
An article in Emol.com reports that "cocoa mills will increase production coming to a peak in the next two years, in order to meet the record demand for chocolate, in a time when the dip in supply from West Africa has resulted in the first seed shortages to have occurred in three seasons.
Suppliers of organic products reported a rise in sales and improved market conditions.
A statement from the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) reads:
Sales of organic products in Europe Recover
According to Organic Monitor many suppliers of organic products have reported a rise in sales and improved market conditions, however, this situation is not shared by all European countries.
The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM in Spanish) has issued new rules to replace those previously established in 2005.
A statement from the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) reads:
The IFOAM has published new rules to replace those previously established in 2005 and these have been approved by electronic vote of the members of the federation, a process which ended on August 5.
The French market for organic products grew by 10% in 2011, despite the crisis.
From a press release by Procomer:
Despite the crisis the consumption of organic products in France has increased.
In ten years, the French "bio" market, despite the crisis, has maintained the interest of consumers. The market has grown ten percentage points in 2011 to reach a turnover of around 4 billion euros, while French household consumption has declined by 0.5% on average for 2011, partly due to decreased spending on food, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in France.
Costa Rica wants to join the international organization in order to create a genetic map of the varieties that are planted in the country, and obtain a quality certification.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), is promoting the inclusion of Costa Rica into the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), which will bring great benefits to the sector, for example, mapping all genetic varieties of cocoa in the country and determining denominations of origin and organoleptic qualities that will allow producers to certify that the Costa Rican cacao is "fine" quality and get higher prices in the international market.
With the equivalence renewal, Costa Rica remains in the EU’s list of third party nations, for an unlimited time, and on Switzerland’s list until 2013, allowing it to export organic products to the European market with a certification issued by national certification bodies under Costa Rican regulations and with the supervision of the SFE, an entity qualified at the national level.
A press release from the State Phytosanitary Service reads:
One of the novelties of the agreement is the introduction of a “transparency” principle to regulate all economic relations in this industry.
‘Transparency’ was defined as the obligation of all market participants to supply and share reliable statistics and data.
Jan Vingerhoets, executive director of the International Cacao Organization, stated: “Good data will help us understand what’s really going on in the market, leading to less speculation”.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has developed a program to assist small coffee and cacao growers.
Called CAMBio (Central American Markets for Biodiversity), the project is expected to assist over 2.000 growers of the region.
“So far, CAMBio has lent $1.9 million to 2.310 small coffee and organic cacao growers in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras, benefiting some 11.550 people”, reported newspaper La Tribuna.
Growers are analyzing the grain's potential for entering gourmet markets.
A forum called "Cacao Quality: Input for a National Strategy", organized by Project "Cacao Centroamérica", was attended by more than 30 cacao organizations.
"Costa Rican caco is considered of high quality, due to its origin and genetic characteristics", said Juan Pablo Buchert, president of the National Chamber of Fine Cacao (Canacaco).
In addition to plastics, the European Union made concessions in chocolate, palm oil, fertilizers and chemicals.
According to the flexibility incorporated into the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union, enterprises in the region may include materials from outside into products that are then exported to Europe under the tariff regime established in the Agreement.
Authorities from seven Latin American countries will create the "Association Fine Aroma Cacao Producing Countries" this week in Ecuador.
This organization will be established at meeting of producers and exporters of this type of cacao from Venezuela, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guatemala, Granada and Ecuador, declared Walter Poveda, Ecuadoran Minister of Agriculture, in a press release.
Cocoa producers from 11 Latin American and Caribbean nations were meeting this week with Italian chocolate makers at an event in the Dominican Republic aimed at setting up new trade links.
The event, dubbed "Chococzribe" is part of an initiative to help small producers get their product onto the international market.
The socioeconomic secretary of the Italy-Latin American Institute, Gustavo Arteta, said cocoa occupies third place in the world market of primary products from the agriculture sector. He said South America and the Caribbean produce about 80 percent of the world's fine cocoa.
Operating Company dedicated to the manufacture of gluten-free and sugar-free products, OHNE brand. The OHNE brand has 8 product lines: square bread, sweet...