Efforts to End Child Labor on Cocoa Farms Failing

WASHINGTONOn the 10th anniversary of the Harkin-Engel Protocol, a commitment by the industry to grow and process cocoa beans and derivative products in compliance with International Labor Organization Convention 182, a new report reveals hundreds of thousands of children continue to be forced into labor on cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The USDA Economic Research Service estimates U.S. cocoa imports have increased over the past decade and are valued at $4.3 billion. Child labor advocates are calling on chocolate companies to responsibly source their cocoa and address the root causes of labor rights issues in the industry.

The U.S. Department of Labor included cocoa from Cote DIvoire and Nigeria on a separate list of goods believed to be produced by abusive labor conditions required under Executive Order 13126. The order requires federal contractors who supply products on the list to certify they have made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to produce the items listed.

In a statement released on 10th anniversary of the Harkin-​Engel Protocol, the Global Exchange, Green America and International Labor Rights Forum said in the six years after the industrys initial deadline, and 10 years since chocolate manufacturers committed to taking action on the issue, very few chocolate companies have taken substantial steps to remove child labor from their cocoa supply chains and adopt third-party certifications for their cocoa.

Some companies, such as Nestlé and Cadbury, have begun to source a small percentage of their product line under Fairtrade standards, which ensure a fair price for farmers, though none of these products are currently available to U.S. consumers. The Mars Co. made a commitment to shift to entirely sustainable supplies of cocoa by 2020. Hershey ranks at the bottom of the list, with no independently certified cocoa in its main product lines, no systems in place to publicly trace its cocoa, and no commitments to shift to third-party certification systems.

In 2010, the Netherlands signed a letter of intent committing that by 2025, 100% of cocoa consumed in the Dutch market would be guaranteed sustainable," with interim goals set for 2012, 2015 and 2020.