Brazil halts cocoa bean imports from Ivory Coast

Brazil has halted imports of dried and fermented cocoa beans from Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, amid ongoing challenges in the sector and declining exports.

The country’s agriculture ministry issued a decree this week suspending shipments, citing concerns over potential pests or diseases in beans from Ivory Coast, including the risk that they may contain “grains from neighboring countries.”

The suspension will remain in effect until Ivoirian authorities provide assurances that exports do not include cocoa from neighboring nations “whose phytosanitary status is unknown and whose shipment to Brazil is unauthorized,” the ministry said.

Brazil produced nearly 300,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2024, according to the national statistics agency, and imported 42,000 tonnes of raw and roasted cocoa from Ivory Coast in 2025.

The Federation of Agriculture and Livestock in Bahia, a key cocoa-producing state in Brazil, said the decision followed a technical mission conducted in Ivory Coast earlier this month.

Ivory Coast is currently struggling to sell its cocoa due to a slowdown in exports caused by buyers’ liquidity issues and a global price slump. The World Bank notes that one in five people in the country relies indirectly on cocoa for their livelihood.