351. Intelligence Note From the Deputy Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (Denny) to Secretary of State Rusk1
SUBJECT
- Geneva Consultative Meeting: Bitter Cocoa
Fruitless Conclave Again. For the tenth time in two and one-half years an international cocoa meeting convened—this time in Geneva during the last week in August—and, as in the past, accomplished very little. Seven of the principal producers, four African and three Latin American, and seven leading consuming nations met under UNCTAD auspices to decide whether a full-fledged negotiating conference should be held.
A Bewildering Failure. The US and Ghana reached an understanding in June on the basic principles of an agreement on cocoa,2 a commodity not heretofore subjected to international commodity control. Ghana was to obtain the agreement of the other producing countries to this understanding. If it did, the US would then agree to attend another meeting of the cocoa consultative group. In early August the Ghanaian Government told our Embassy in Accra that it had obtained “unqualified” agreement from Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, and the concurrence of Cameroon and Togo. Brazil submitted a request for the “clarification of certain points.” [Page 839] At Geneva, however, the other producers denied that they had agreed to the terms worked out by the US and Ghana. Indeed, the delegate of Cameroon said he had never seen them.
Like Ships Passing in the Night. Thus, the principles agreed upon by the largest consumer and the largest producer were not generally accepted by the group, presumably owing to a misunderstanding or a series of them. The US viewed the bilateral agreement as a final understanding and, except on technical details, not negotiable. The Africans other than Ghana resented the drafting of an agreement without their participation, and they rejected the take-it-or-leave-it basis on which it was presented.
During the talks, France was quite difficult; Cameroon raised all sorts of problems; Nigeria did not always attend; the Ivory Coast “if’d and but’d;” and even Ghana equivocated. Brazil was especially intransigent on the minimum price and on the preferences given the African associates of the EEC. At adjournment therefore many important issues remained to be resolved. Yet the group announced it would reconvene in late September, making fairly optimistic remarks on the likelihood of success.
And Next Time? The International Coffee Organization is now in session in London, trying to reach agreement on the renewal of the coffee agreement. Two of the three leading coffee producers are Brazil and the Ivory Coast. Should the London meeting fail, these two—which are also the third- and fourth-ranked cocoa producers—may not be willing to return to Geneva to discuss cocoa this year. Even if this hurdle is successfully negotiated, the odds remain heavily weighted against a successful cocoa meeting, assuming the US will stand pat on its position.
In the unlikely event that a cocoa agreement is reached, it is by no means certain that it will come into operation. The American chocolate industry opposes the ratification of this (or any other) agreement; the prospects for Congressional approval are therefore clouded at best.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, INCO–COCOA 4. Confidential; No Foreign Dissem; Controlled Dissem.↩
- See Document 346.↩