The association exists for 4 months now. We are moving ahead with the process and the different steps to bring coca leaves from South America to Europe through a fair trade model.
The process has been slow paced because we are trying to find a methodology that is consistent with our message. This message seeks to obtain tolerance towards the traditional use of coca leaf in the world. For this we rely on the international conventions that protect human and civil rights. At the same time we reiterate our willingness to contribute to ecological production and processing of the coca leaf, seeking to obtain an organic certification label.
Things are coming together step by step. Many thanks for your patience. The year 2012 will see the birth of the first coca leaf shipments, so we promise!
The first step
We need all friends now to officially subscribe to the association and become a member by completing the form mentioned below.
They are also asked to pay the membership fee which is, as already announced, 25 euros per year. For banking details, see below.
This amount will allow the association to continue working to prepare for future steps including among others the creation of a website, etc. We will also start working with Andean producers to prepare the first shipment of coca leaves to a first group of members. From now on we will send a monthly report to all members.
The deadline to join this first group of members who will make the first orders is March 1, 2012. Of course, it is always possible to join after this date.
Our goal remains to install a mechanism that allows for the shipment of max. 150 grams of coca leaves per member per week at a price of 15 euros.
The second step:
When Andean producers are ready to carry out the first shipment and have the authorization to do so, the members will be immediately informed. At that time members will be required to make the payment of their first order. The association will assist its members in case of legal conflicts as long as they have fulfilled the conditions set by the association.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
The Board of the Association of Friends of the Coca Leaf
Julien - Baylen - Katlin - Beatriz - Joep
If you wish to be a member please see fill out the
YES, I WISH TO CONFIRM MY MEMBERSHIP OF THE ASSOCIATION “FRIENDS OF THE COCA LEAF”
I HAVE PAID MY ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE FOR THE YEAR 2012*
I WILL MAKE A FIRST ORDER OF 150 GRAMMES OF ORGANIC COCA LEAVES FOR MY PERSONAL USE**
I ESTIMATE MY PERSONAL DEMAND AS ... GRAMMES OF COCA LEAF PER YEAR (Your answer does not imply any commitment to purchase)
I AM AN ADULT
Name:
E-mail:
Address:
City:
Country:
*Please pay your annual membership fee (25 euro) to the following bank account (payments are possible through Paypal too - please contact us):
IBAN BE49 0016 5809 6071
BIC GEBABEBB
Att. Encod/Amigos, Antwerpen, Belgium
Ref: your email adress
**You will be informed on this first shipment and receive instructions for payment at the right moment.
REPORT OF THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION
’FRIENDS OF THE COCA LEAF’
10 SEPTEMBER 2011 - ANTWERPEN
Present:
Founding members
Ludo den Aantrekker, Belgium
Marion Bouchaud, France
Rachid Bouziani, Marrocco/Belgium
Francis van Elsen, Belgium
Nelson Estrada, Bolivia/ Belgium
Baylen Greever, USA/ Belgium
Martine Hutsebaut, Belgium
Walter Lotens, Belgium
Beatriz Negrety Condori, Bolivia/ Belgium
Joep Oomen, Netherlands/ Belgium
Katlin Teras, Estonia/ Belgium
Julien Ureel, Belgium
Observers
Enid Arambulo, Peru/ Belgium
Alexandro Fernández, Bolivia / Belgium
Rene Fernandez, Bolivia/ Belgium
Maziel Mansilla, Bolivia/ Belgium
1. Approval of the statutes
The statutes were discussed. One addition to the proposed version was made concerning the objectives : contribute to an international legal framework for the fair trade of coca leaves. Afterwards the final version of the statutes was approved by the 12 founding members of the association. The yearly membership contribution is established at 25 euros.
2. Election of the first Steering Committee and Secretariat
The following people were elected as integrating members of the Steering Committee: Baylen Greever, Joep Oomen, Katlin Teras and Julien Ureel. Julien Uriel was assigned president, Katlin Terras secretary, Joep Oomen treasurer and Baylen Greever ordinary member of the Committee. The secretariat will function in Ploegstraat 27, 2018 Antwerpen, and will be staffed by Beatriz Negrety Condori and Joep Oomen.
These 5 people will be in charge of the first work plan, and will report regularly to the members.
3. Approval of the first work plan.
The following work plan was approved:
- Deposit of the statutes
Opening of a bank account
Identification of partners in the Andean region: organizations of coca producers or enterprises that produce coca leaves or legal derivates with the permission of corresponding authorities, that collaborate with one of the regional or national organisations of cocaproducers and that have initiated a process of ecological certification of the cultivation and/or production of derivates.
Signing of agreements with partners
Design and publication of the website in various languages.
On the website there will be a form for those who want to
become a member and make orders.
Afterwards, the orders and the payments will be collected and the cheapest way of making the transference will be used
We will start with a maximum of 150 grammes of coca leaves per person per week, for the cost of 15 euros (5 euro for the producer, 5 euros for the postal costs, 5 euros for administrative costs)
4. Global long term strategies
Once we have established this operational system, we will see what the responses will be. It is possible that we need to face legal action and then organising our defense will be the primary task of the association. The legal defense will be based on the violation (of international coca leaf prohibition) of 4 Conventions or Declarations of the UN on Human Rights, and the fact that this model is aiming at protecting puiblic health and at reducing the ilegal cocaine production.
If we are not prosecuted we can grow and start to invest in events to inform and promote the traditional culture around the coca leaf, we could even think of the promotion of sustainable tourism to coca producing regions.
On 18 June 2011, during a cultural event in Antwerp (Belgium) called the "Miracles of Pachamama", the First European Association of Coca Leaf Consumers was established. Goal of the new association is to create a system for small scale distribution of coca leaves and their traditional derivates in Europe, according to the rules of fair trade and ecological agriculture.
The association ’Friends of the Coca leaf’ surges as a response to the concerns in the European civil society on the impact of anti-drig policies in general and of the ban on the coca leaf in particular. The association has the following objectives:
1. Improve the understanding in Europe of the Andean Amazonian coca leaf culture, counter the confusion between coca leaves and cocaine, and avoid the stigmatisation of consumers and producers of this plant in its natural state.
2. To defend the use of the coca leaf and its traditional derivates in the entire world as a contribution to public health, thanks to its high medicinal value.
3. To promote the creation of systems for the legal distribution of the coca leaf and its traditional derivates for the personal use of its members, by legal means and respecting the rules of fair trade, in co-operation with organisations of producers and social enterprises in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, who produce traditional derivates, respecting the current ecological and public health norms.
