YAMOUSSOUKRO - Local Ivorian cocoa exporters have offered a deal to major trading houses aimed at ending their boycott of government allocated international supply contracts, company officials and documents indicated on Thursday. The Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC), Ivory Coast’s sector regulator, uses an electronic auction system to allow international firms not present in the world’s top cocoa grower to purchase Ivorian cocoa. Under a scheme to develop the domestic industry introduced in the 2014/15 season, the CCC gave domestic exporters exclusive control over those supply contracts, which are expected to account for around 200,000 tonnes of cocoa this season. However, major cocoa buyers have largely boycotted the 2015/16 international contracts, arguing that the local firms lack the necessary capacity and financing. Last month, the GNI group of domestic cocoa firms wrote to trading houses to propose conditions it hoped would allay concerns highlighted by the international companies. “In this deal, each party knows in advance what they have to do, and that should facilitate our relationships,” said Ismael Kone, CEO of Africa Sourcing, a local exporter and member of the GNI. Under the deal proposed by the GNI exporters, CIF, or “cost, insurance and freight”, contracts could be transformed into FOB, or “free on board”, agreements. Purchasers would choose delivery destinations and would also be involved in overseeing quality controls. Kone said the GNI had contacted U.S. traders Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland, Swiss firms ECOM Trading and Barry Callebaut, France’s Cemoi and Singapore’s Olam International. “We ... signal our agreement on all of your submitted propositions,” Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate’s West Africa General Manager Lionel Soulard wrote in a response to GNI seen by Reuters. The positions of the other companies concerning the proposal were not immediately known. In an attempt to circumscribe the boycott, the CCC said last month that it would resell at a discount to international buyers around 200,000 tonnes of 2015/16 beans purchased by domestic operators. However, many wary buyers continued to stay away. The 2015/16 cocoa marketing season opened in Ivory Coast on Thursday.