Cameroon Rolls Out New Monitoring System for Cocoa and Coffee Exports

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Business in Cameroon | Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Minader), Gabriel Mbairobe, is set to officially launch a new regulatory monitoring, alert, and sanitary and phytosanitary surveillance platform for cocoa and coffee quality today, June 4, 2025, in Yaoundé.

Established on January 19, 2023, this platform serves as a consultation framework between the government, represented by Minader, and private sector stakeholders in the cocoa and coffee industries, brought together under the Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Council (CICC).

According to the decision that created this body, its purpose is “to ensure the sanitary safety of Cameroonian cocoa and coffee, in accordance with the regulatory requirements of national and international markets.” The platform is tasked with identifying the most relevant information sources among international trade regulation portals for cocoa and coffee, and tracking changes in international requirements, particularly concerning maximum residue limits for pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals, packaging material standards, and mandatory treatments.

Members of the platform are also expected to “provide alerts on the sanitary and phytosanitary status of cocoa and coffee; monitor and share notifications of interceptions and rejections by buyer countries; and regularly assess the physical, chemical, and microbiological compliance of Cameroonian cocoa and coffee with international market requirements.”

“Fine Cocoa” Recognition

This monitoring platform complements numerous other initiatives undertaken over the past decade by the government and industry stakeholders to ensure the quality of Cameroonian products. These efforts include the creation of post-harvest cocoa processing centers, which enable the production of “zero defect” cocoa. Additionally, the government has introduced a quality bonus for cocoa beans, distributing approximately 5 billion CFA francs to producers of high-quality beans since the 2017–2018 season, according to official estimates.

All these initiatives, aimed at preventing significant discounts for Cameroonian products in the international market, appear to be yielding positive results. For example, a report from the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC) at the close of the 2020-2021 cocoa season indicated that Cameroon recorded both “the highest volume ever” of beans subjected to quality control during that season and “the highest percentage of grade I beans—the best quality—of the past twenty years.”

In recognition of these efforts, particularly in the cocoa sector, the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) admitted Cameroon in June 2023 into the “very selective club” of fine cocoa producers. “Fine cocoa relates specifically to what we call organoleptic qualities, meaning very good taste, very good aroma. The best comparison is with wine. There are grand crus and table wines. What really defines fine cocoa is what we call post-harvest treatment. So, almost any bean can become fine cocoa. What matters is the treatment, the ability of the producer or their cooperative to ferment and dry well,” explained Michel Arrion, Executive Director of the ICCO.

Bananas are among Cameroon’s main sources of export revenue, with Europe as the primary market. According to the firm BKP Economic Advisors, the United Kingdom alone accounts for 13% of Cameroon’s banana exports, representing revenues of nearly 10 million euros. To maintain this trade relationship with Cameroon under favorable conditions for products such as bananas, the United Kingdom signed an agreement to apply the EPAs between Cameroon and the European Union (EU) on its territory, despite Brexit.