Cameroon refurbishing cocoa drying ovens to meet EU rules

By Tansa Musa YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon has begun refurbishing old cocoa ovens in an effort to comply with tougher EU quality rules, after the bloc rejected about 2,000 tonnes of beans last year due to smoke contamination. Omer Gatien Maledy, executive secretary of Cameroon's Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB), said authorities had refurbished 144 cracked ovens in the South West Region, from a planned total of 1,500 ovens. The region, which accounts for around 40 percent of Cameroon's cocoa exports of nearly 200,000 tonnes a year, is home to most of the ovens used by farmers due to heavy rains that hinder natural drying. "This is part of the campaign to promote good practices in cocoa drying, to meet standards set by the European Union," Maledy said. The EU, top buyer of Cameroonian cocoa, rejected 2,000 tonnes of beans in December saying they contained high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The compounds, found in cocoa which has been dried over smoky fires or on sticky tarmac, present cancer risks. On April 1, Brussels introduced a stricter rule on PAH contamination. It limits the level of benzo(a)pyrene in cocoa beans and derived products, including chocolate, to 5 parts per billion. Cameroon cocoa authorities said early this year that the cracked ovens, originally donated by the EU, would be refurbished and that tarpaulins would be distributed to farmers for sun drying their beans instead of doing so on tarmac. The EU bought 88 percent of the 196,778 tonnes of cocoa which Cameroon exported in the 2012/2013 season. Academic research has shown that the risk of PAH contamination is greatly reduced once the shells covering cocoa beans are removed. One European cocoa trader said that tests carried out so far on Cameroonian beans showed PAH levels remained below the EU threshold once they were shelled. Traders said, however, that question marks remained over the possible impact on Cameroon's exports. "People are a bit concerned about this. It's very specific testing and it will have a bearing on whether or not these beans will find homes," said one European trader. "There are some industrial users that use a lot of Cameroon's cocoa so I think they would be careful about what they're doing there," he said.