Workshop highlights: How Ghana and the EU are preparing for the EUDR

We supported a workshop in Ghana this week where cocoa sector stakeholders discussed how Ghana and the European Union are preparing for implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) in the sector.

Hosted by the EU Delegation to Ghana and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the workshop gathered around 70 stakeholders from the EU, Ghanaian government, private sector and civil society. Key highlights included:

• Ghana’s “low risk” ranking in the European Commission country benchmarking.
• The dry-run on traceability and due diligence conducted by COCOBOD and Cargill with the Dutch Competent Authorities.
• The roll-out of the Ghana Cocoa Traceability system through dry-runs with eight License Buying Companies.
• The EUDR 2020 forest cover map produced by the Forestry Commission.

Discussions also included broader exchanges on national efforts to promote sustainable cocoa, and how to address remaining challenges ahead of the entry into application of the EUDR at the end of the year. The workshop, supported by EFI through the EU Sustainable Forest and Cocoa Programme, was the third in an ongoing series of technical events on EUDR implementation for the Ghanaian cocoa sector.