The Associated Press
Published on: 03/15/07
La Paz, Bolivia — Coca-Cola should drop the name of Bolivia's "sacred leaf" from its trademark soda, according to a resolution passed by a commission of coca industry representatives advising the assembly rewriting the Andean country's constitution.
During a three-day gathering in Sucre, 255 miles southeast of La Paz, more than 400 coca growers, traders, and politicians from Bolivia's coca-growing regions also called for the United Nations to decriminalize the leaf in its natural form and for its image to be included in Bolivia's national seal.
Though not directly affiliated with the Bolivian government, the commission is the latest step in a national effort spearheaded by President Evo Morales to rehabilitate the image of plant revered in the Andes for millenia but better known internationally as the base ingredient of cocaine.
Officials at Atlanta-based Coca-Cola released a statement Thursday saying their trademark is "the most valuable and recognized brand in the world" and is protected under Bolivian law.
Coca-Cola dropped cocaine from its ingredients a century ago, although the soda maker's secret formula still calls for a cocaine-free coca extract produced by the New Jersey-based Stepan Chemical. The company imports about 55 tons of coca leaves each year from Peru, according to the Peruvian state-run coca company Enaco.
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