(Ecofin Agency) - Cote d’Ivoire’s government just announced the reduction of export taxes for all cocoa-made products. This should help the country achieve its goal which is to process half of its output locally by 2020.

According to the new policy which is soon to be effective, taxes on cocoa butter exports will drop to 11% from 14.6%. Those on cocoa paste from 14.6% to 13.2% while those on cocoa powder will fall to 9.6% from 14.6%. Moreover, traders such as Barry Callebaut, Olam and Cargill will be allowed to increase their production by 7.5% while smaller processors will be able to bring their capacity up 10 to 15%.

The Ivorian Cocoa-Coffee Council also suggested the establishment of a marketing system solely dedicated to processors, Reuters reports. This would prevent them from competing with cocoa beans traders.

The country decided to implement these reforms in order to lead the global cocoa processing industry as it is the case for the production industry. The country which can process 720,000 tons each year uses only 60-80% of this potential.

In Cote d’Ivoire, cocoa processing is dominated by Barry Callebaut, Olam and Cémoi.

Aaron Akinocho