MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE: THE CHANNELING OF COCOA-COFFEE EXPORTS MADE IN DRC WITH THE FIGHT AGAINST FRAUD AND THE PROTECTION OF LOCAL PRODUCERS, AT THE CENTER OF A TECHNICAL MEETING THIS MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2026 IN KINSHASA BETWEEN MINISTER JULIEN PALUKU KAHONGYA AND THE DELEGATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF COCOA-COFFEE EXPORTERS OF THE DRC-ASSECCAF
.webp)
.webp)
The strengthening of strategies to properly channel exports of cocoa-coffee made in DRC estimated at more than 91,000 tonnes in 2025, and this, with the fight against fraud and smuggling, but also, the protection of local producers through cooperatives and the construction of production storage infrastructures and the training of producers and exporters on sanitary and phytosanitary standards for the competitiveness of Congolese cocoa-coffee on the international level as well as the promotion of local processing of brown gold; These points were at the center of a technical meeting this Monday, April 20, 2026 in Kinshasa between the Minister of Foreign Trade, Julien Paluku Kahongya and the delegation of the Association of Cocoa-Coffee Exporters of the Democratic Republic of Congo-ASSECCAF, headed by Benjamin Kakule Munzenda, its President.
For sovereignty in the certification of products made in DRC, the Congolese Government has just obtained American support to train Congolese experts to thus avoid depending on external agents who maintain the status quo to encourage fraud, indicated the Minister of Foreign Trade while adding that a major awareness campaign to support local producers and exporters will be organized shortly in Beni in North Kivu, Ituri, Equateur and Tshopo
For his part, President of ASSECCAF, Benjamin Kakule Munzenda, National President, welcomed the firm commitment of the Congolese State to meet the various challenges including the channeling of Congolese cocoa-coffee exports, a large part of which is stamped made in Uganda, to the detriment of the DRC.
The agro-industrial company Esco Kivu based in Beni, specializing in the purchase and export of agricultural products including cocoa and which supports small farmers by promoting sustainable and certified practices, encouraged local producers to ferment their cocoa well and not to lose hope, because the return to vouchers will always be there, declared Osée Kambale Siviri, its Director, and this, after presenting to the Minister of Foreign Trade the sample of chocolate produced by Esco Kivu
Note that during this meeting the Association of Cocoa-Coffee Exporters of the DRC congratulated the Minister of Foreign Trade, Julien Paluku Kahongya and the Government for having removed the illegal tax of 10 US dollars per tonne of cocoa imposed by the Congolese Control Office-OCC - for any crossing from Ituri to North Kivu and for the diplomacy acting in the face of the demands of the European Union on deforestation which threatened cocoa and Congolese cocoa as well as support for local producers and exporters to cope with the drop in world cocoa prices.
