Cocoa Inspection and Grading Procedure

The export of cocoa from the Solomon Islands is regulated by the Commodity Export Marketing Authority (CEMA) in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

To complete a pre-export assessment with the CEMA, exporters need to adhere to the following steps:

1. Exporter completes and submits a Cocoa Contract Registry (Form 3) with an attached copy of the sales contract.

   • This specifies the exporter’s name, contract number, quantity to be shipped, date of shipment, and FOB price.

   • Upon payment of an appropriate management fee by the exporter, CEMA’s inspection services are now ready to proceed.

2. A CEMA inspector collects samples the export consignment according to specifications above.

   • Random sampling is conducted on 30% of the bags for export.

   • Physical inspection for under dried, under-ferment, mouldy beans (external and internal), adulterated, clumpy cocoa and foreign matters is carried here as well.

3. Detailed inspection and grading is conducted at the CEMA lab including:

   • Bean counts, cut tests, odour tests, moisture content tests and defect identifications are carried out here.

   • The results obtained determines whether the cocoa is export grade or not.