Companies such as Coca-Cola Co. could be barred from using the word “coca” in their brand names under a measure endorsed by a panel that is helping rewrite the Bolivian constitution.
The Coca Committee of the assembly that is overhauling the constitution has accepted a proposal by coca leaf farmers introducing language that bans foreign companies from “using the name of the sacred leaf in their products.”
Coca is the main ingredient of cocaine, but Bolivians have used it for centuries as a mild stimulant that reduces hunger pangs and altitude sickness. Bolivian indigenous groups also use the leaves in religious ceremonies.
The bid to recognize coca as something inherently Bolivian is similar to measures that restrict the use of names such as champagne, tequila, feta and parmesan outside of certain regions.
Margarita Teran, head of the Coca Committee, told daily newspaper La Razon she was dismayed that Coca-Cola can sell soft drinks worldwide without restrictions while Bolivia is barred from exporting products made with coca.
A 1961 U.N. convention bans the international trade of products made with coca and places it in the same category as opium and cannabis.
Leftist President Evo Morales is carrying out an international campaign to convince the United Nations to allow Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, to export products made with coca like toothpaste, face creams and herbal teas.
Morales rose to prominence as the leader of the coca leaf growers’ union, known for its ability to bring the country to a standstill with protests demanding an end to the forced eradication of coca fields.
The U.S. State Department says Morales’ coca policy has contributed to a rise in coca growing and threatens to undermine advances made during the 1990s as a result of the U.S.-backed coca-eradication programs.
Bolivia is the world’s third biggest producer of cocaine after Colombia and Peru. The United States is the biggest market for the drug.
Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, hopes the assembly, which is scheduled to finish its work in July this year, will empower the poor indigenous majority and help him cement his leftist reforms.