Industry News
Responsible Cocoa Farming and the Chocolate/Cocoa Industry Questions and Answers
What is the status of the Protocol?
The chocolate/cocoa industry is firmly committed to the Protocol agreement to ensure cocoa is grown responsibly. We have met
every deadline, and will continue to do so. The Protocol enjoys the full support and participation of our industry.
What will you complete by the July 1 deadline established under the Protocol?
We will have completed development of standards for certification of labor practices on cocoa farming
- as called for under the Protocol agreement signed by Senator Harkin, Representative Engel and representatives from the chocolate/cocoa industry. Large-scale tests of the monitoring and verification
- two important components of certification - will have taken place by the July 1 deadline.
From there, we will work with our partners at the International Labour Organization (ILO), NGOs and West African governments to implement
robust labor monitoring and independent verification across the West African cocoa sector.
What about concerns voiced that the Protocol is in jeopardy, that the industry will not fulfil its obligations?
These comments come as a surprise to the industry. Quite simply, they are wrong on the facts:
- The industry is firmly, totally committed to the Protocol
- The industry will meet the July 1 deadline established under the Protocol for development of "standards of certification."
- The industry has a long-term commitment and plan - extending beyond the July 1 deadline - to bring about meaningful change in the lives of children and families on cocoa farms
These commitments are well known by the industry's partners in organized labor, NGOs and labor experts with whom we are working, day-in and day-out, to complete development of certification
and implement programs to help cocoa farming families.
Are abusive labor practices widespread? What is the scope of the problem?
An independent survey, conducted by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture as part of the Protocol, found that the vast majority of farmers are honest, farming cocoa responsibly.
The survey did find other areas of concern - issues with safe working practices, use of pesticides, children attending school vs. working on their family farm.
Regardless of the results, industry believes that it's critically important to address any instances of abusive labor practices, and to push for meaningful, long-term change in the lives of children and families on cocoa farms.
What about specific reports of children who worked in abusive labor conditions?
In both private and public settings, we have repeatedly asked for information on these and any child who might be in abusive labor situation - so that we can work with our non-industry partners immediately to locate,
remove and assist the children in question.
To date, no group or individual has come forward with specific information to help find and rescue these children. Until this happens, these reports will remain little more than anecdotes and not translate into action.
Have industry-supported efforts made a difference? What accomplishments have taken place?
Working with the ILO, organized labor, NGOs and West African developments, there has been clear, significant progress:
- A large-scale test of a cocoa farm labor monitoring program is underway in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
- A similar test of an independent "verification" of the certification process is planned for the upcoming mid-crop cocoa harvest (May, 2005).
- The joint foundation established by industry and non-industry stakeholders, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), is moving forward with a program of on-the-ground activities in West Africa to address
child and forced labor issues.
- The ILO-directed program to identity and help at-risk children on cocoa farms is up-and-running in cocoa farming communities in West Africa. WACAP (West Africa Commercial Agriculture Program to Combat Hazardous
and Exploitive Child Labor) has identified communities in the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana where children might be at risk of being exposed to abusive labor practices, and has begun work in these areas.
- A program to boost farm family incomes and promote responsible labor practices, the "Farmer Field Schools," helped nearly 15,000 West African farm families in 2003/2004.
- Efforts to develop cocoa farmer cooperatives in the region - an effective way to promote responsible labor practices and boost family incomes - benefited more than 28,000 farm families in 2004 alone.
This progress has taken place against a backdrop of civil unrest and armed conflict in the Ivory Coast, and in an environment that is among the most remote and rural in the world.
What's next?
As an industry, we are committed to the social, economic and environmental development of cocoa farming communities - a commitment that extends far beyond the Protocol established under the Protocol.
- We will complete development of standards for certification, by July 1, 2005 - as called for under the Protocol.
- Following that, we will work with our partners in organized labor, NGOs and West African governments to roll out the monitoring and verification components of certification - across West Africa.
- We will support programs to help cocoa farmers and their families - through such industry-supported efforts as the World Cocoa Foundation.
- We will support the joint foundation established under the Protocol to address labor issues in cocoa farming - the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI)
