The ratification of the 2010 International Cocoa Agreement will enable Russia to contribute issues of vital economic importance for the country’s confectionary industry to the agenda of the international community of cocoa producers and consumers.
Reference
The draft federal law On Ratification of the 2010 International Cocoa Agreement was submitted by the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
The International Cocoa Organisation was set up in 1973 to implement the goals and objectives of the International Cocoa Agreement signed during the First International Cocoa Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1972.
Russia signed the 1993 International Cocoa Agreement in compliance with Government Directive No. 993 of 29 August 1994.
The 2010 International Cocoa Agreement (hereinafter – Agreement) is the seventh agreement throughout the organisation’s history. It was signed in the name of the Russian Federation in New York on 1 October 2014, in compliance with Government Directive No. 769-R of 8 May 2014.
By becoming a party to the Agreement, Russia gains the opportunity to submit to the agenda of the international community of cocoa producers and consumers the issues that have an important economic value for the country. This is related primarily to the provision of quality raw materials for the confectionary industry.
The Agreement is aimed at promoting international cooperation in the areas of cocoa production, trade and processing, ensuring inter-governmental consultations and negotiations held to achieve a sustainable balance between supply and demand in the cocoa market.
In accordance with the Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation, the Agreement must be ratified since it sets rules different from those prescribed by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The draft law was considered and approved at a meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation on 2 September 2015.