Ivory Coast's market regulator, under the leadership of Yves Brahima Kone, is planning to introduce measures to curb fraud related to fair-trade certified cocoa contracts. The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC) suspended sales of fair-trade certified contracts after recording an exponential increase in certified cocoa. Buyers and co-operatives have been using this program to push multinational companies into overpaying. To combat fraudulent contracts, the regulator is considering limiting the number of cocoa buyers to 30 from over a thousand. Next year, Ivory Coast will introduce a new certification and traceability system to align with European regulations on the import of commodities linked to deforestation.