COCOA CONSUMERS NARROW GAP ON BUFFER STOCK ISSUE Representatives of cocoa consuming countries at an International Cocoa Organization, ICCO, council meeting here have edged closer to a unified stance on buffer stock rules, delegates said. While consumers do not yet have a common position, an observer said after a consumer meeting, "They are much more fluid ... and the tone is positive." European Community consumers were split on the question of how the cocoa buffer stock should be operated when the ICCO met in January to put the new International Cocoa Agreement into effect, delegates said. At the January meeting, France sided with producers on how the buffer stock should operate, delegates said. That meeting ended without agreement on new buffer stock rules. The EC Commission met in Brussels on Friday to see whether the 12 EC cocoa consuming nations could narrow their differences at this month's meeting. The Commissioners came away from the Friday meeting with an informal agreement to respond to signs of flexibility among producers on the key buffer stock issues, delegates said. The key issues to be addressed at this council session which divide ICCO members are whether non-member cocoa should be eligible for buffer stock purchases and what price differentials the buffer stock should pay for different types of cocoa, delegates said. A consumer delegate said producers and consumers should be able to compromise on the non-member cocoa question. A working group comprising delegates from all producing and consuming member countries met briefly this morning, then broke up into a producer meeting and an EC meeting, followed by a consumer meeting. Producers, who are in favour of the buffer stock buying a variety of grades of cocoa and oppose non-member cocoa being accepted, reviewed their position ahead of the working group meeting this afternoon. "We are waiting to see what consumers say," a producer delegate said. "We hope they will be flexible or it will be difficult to negotiate." The ICCO comprises 33 member countries. Non- members include the U.S., a consumer, and Malaysia, an increasingly important producer.