Mutul Assembly for Chocolate Production

Logo of the Mumomeka

The Mutul Assembly for Chocolate Production (Mutli: Mutul Mol Melik Kakaw) also known by its Mutli acronym of Mumomeka is a Mutulese organization composed of cacao producers, cacao traders, chocolate makers, chocolate sellers, financial institutions, the Central Mill, and the Divine Throne that was established in 1973 to rationalize the production and distribution of cacao and chocolate by indicating a price target for Raw chocolate which affect all prices up and downstream of the production line. The Mumomeka holds nine meetings a year to discuss chocolate production, Open market operations, Foreign exchange markets, and the Monetary policy of the Mutul. Through negotiations between all the actors of the chocolate market, the Assembly determine the Mumomeka target range for Interest rates, which is left to the Central Mill to enforce. All of these roles, seemingly very distant from its primary function as a countrywide planification committee, come from the nature of the B'ul the official currency of the Mutul, which is pegged to the value of Criollo Raw chocolate, tying cocoa production directly to the broader economy of the Divine Kingdom.

Purpose

The Assembly was established for formulating the Mutul policy toward chocolate production in negotiation with all market actors. But the main concern that led to its creation was not strictly the question of market supply in cacao and chocolate, but the consequence of such supply on the Mutul' monetary policy. By negotiating with producers, traders, and bankers, the government thus involve them in the process of setting up the inflation target of the Mutul and determining the Mumomeka target range for Interest rates while also protecting the interests of all aforementioned parties.

Membership

The Assembly consist of representatives from every stage of cacao and chocolate production and distribution. It include cacao producers (be they singular institutions or gathered together as farmer cooperatives known as 'Worshipful Companies'), chocolate makers (once again, either private companies or Professional associations), but also delegates from the twelve largest banks of the Mutul, one representative from the Central Mill, and another representative of the K'uhul Ajaw acting in Their name and that of the Divine Throne. In total, the Assembly is composed of 200 officials, although the exact number may vary from meeting to meeting depending on invitations and exemptions.

Meetings

It's Divine Throne which, in the name of the K'uhul Ajaw, send invitations to all representatives to participate to the next meeting of the Assembly. By decree enshrined in law, the Assembly must meet at least three times a year. In practice, the invitations are issued to all members at the end of each meeting which happen nine times a year. There's officially no fixed or predetermined location for the meetings but by tradition they take place at the Sanctuary of Aj Kakaw in K'alak Muul. If circumstances require consultation or consideration of an action between these regular meetings, members may be called on to participate in a special meeting or a telephone conference, or to vote on a proposed action by proxy.

Decision-making process

Before each meeting, representatives prepare reports of their institutions' past and prospective financial developments as well as updated estimates of the year' cacao production and current cacao reserves, but also on operations in the domestic open market and in foreign currencies. At the meeting itself, the Assembly' Chief of Staffpresent oral reports on the current and prospective situation of the cacao economy.

In its debates, the Assembly consider the interests and needs of all participants. These include the producers needs for fair cacao prices, the chocolate makers want for cheaper production, the financial institutions demand for readily available credits, the Central Mill' worry about inflation and economic stability, and the Divine Throne budget balance and concern for other aspect of the economy such as unemployment rates, consumer income and spending, business investments, and so on. Typically, each participant expresses their own views on the state of the economy and prospects for the future and on the appropriate direction for monetary policy. The order in which they are allowed to express those views depends on multiple factor such as the size of the institution represented, which part of the cacao production chain it represent, and its seniority. Participants may also interject at all time to agree or support a proposition being presented, or use their time to criticize other opinions (as long as they themselves present their views or attach themselves to an already proposed plan).

At the end of this process, the K'uhul Ajaw' representative will chose the more popular propositions or select from all of the opinions expressed multiple motions and put them to a vote. Multiple motions can be put to a vote in succession. Following the votes, a synthesis of all motions agreed upon by the Assembly is written by the royal representative' staff, under the control of the Assembly which validate the final Directive. The Directive is then transmitted to the K'uhul Ajaw who then publish it in a Decree for the Central Mill and the cacao producers to enforce.