United Cacao Limited SEZC (AIM: CHOC), the AIM-quoted cacao plantation company based in Peru, notes the purported claims made on the website of the National Forestry and Wildlife Service in Peru in relation to its activities in Peru.
The Company reiterates that it operates in full compliance with all applicable Peruvian and environmental laws relating to planning, land use, development, operation and plantation standards as most recently confirmed on 5 May 2016. It operates on freehold land zoned for full agricultural purposes by the relevant government national authorities.
United Cacao is in regular correspondence with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Department of Agriculture (“DGAAA”). However, the Company has not received any correspondence or communications from SERFOR or the DGAAA on these claims and its activities do not fall under the auspices of SERFOR. The Company wishes to point out that the SERFOR statement is self-described as opinion and the claims contained in the statement are baseless and have no legal standing.
As previously disclosed, on 12 January 2016, the Federal Supreme Court of Peru re-affirmed the Loreto Superior Court of Appeals’ ruling on 26 March 2015 (previously detailed via RNS on 29 September 2015), which itself originally confirmed the Company’s environmental permitting and agricultural zoning since 1997; copies of which available for inspection on the Company’s website.
Further to this and as previously disclosed in its Admission Document, on 10 September 2013, the Company submitted its terms of reference for the environmental reporting documentation, known locally as a PAMA. The authorities, including the DGAAA, requested that the Company submit a PAMA due to the on-going nature of agricultural activities on the Company’s land; since that time the authorities have not issued documentation to the Company changing this position nor requesting an alternative environmental certification. The Company’s terms of reference for the PAMA were approved by the relevant authorities on 9 October 2013. As part of this PAMA, United Cacao’s community participation plan was submitted to the relevant authorities on 4 September 2014 and subsequently approved. Final approval of the completed PAMA is expected during the course of 2016. Further announcements will be made in due course, as appropriate.
The Company has posted interviews of with the 150 local farmers who are part of the Company’s small farmer program and live in the vicinity of the Company’s estates. These interview are available herehttp://www.unitedcacao.com/index.php/en/community-relations-en/papec-meet-the-farmer.
