Dialogue with Hershey Focuses on Forced Child Labor on Cocoa Plantations
In response to a number of articles and a report from the human rights organization, Global Exchange, shareholders began an engagement with chocolate companies in early 2008. The problem of child slave labor in cocoa fields in West Africa (particularly Cote D’Ivoire and Ghana) has been known for over seven years and even the subject of Congressional debate and action. The challenge is identifying and addressing a problem in a highly commoditized industry where the bulk of farm-level production is done by millions of small land-holders.
In 2001 the chocolate industry, facing a potential legislative labeling mandate, agreed to voluntarily certify its cocoa “free of the worst forms of child labor” by 2005. That date has come and gone with little change on the ground for children. The Harkin-Engel Protocol, named after the senators who sponsored the original legislation, is currently pursuing “country-level” certification for labor practices related to cocoa sourcing. Shareholders are concerned that this approach is too far from the farms, too slow in implementation, and too open to abuse in developing countries.
Conversations with Hershey, one of the 10 top multinational chocolate retailers, on July 11, 2008, focused on progress within the company, World Cocoa Foundation, and the International Cocoa Initiative to find solutions to end the abusive use of child labor in the cocoa industry that all claim to share. The company is currently implementing a broad-based supplier code of conduct in which they hope to integrate the child labor concerns. Shareholders are supportive of this approach, if timely implementation can be made. Based on shareholder recommendations, the company has secured the services of Verite, a respected leader in the creation, implementation, and monitoring of corporate codes of conduct. The company has increased CSR staffing, revised procurement procedures, and is rolling out the code to Hershey’s top tier (80%) supplier base. An internal self-assessment, guided by Verite, is currently underway.
A congressionally mandated study by Tulane University was released on October 31 indicated that while some success was being made with industry efforts, many areas of concern remain including children exposed to high risk activities, an increase in child trafficking and the need for rehabilitation programs for children withdrawn from hazardous working situations. A full copy of the report can be found at: http://childlabor-payson.org/default.html
Shareholders plan a future meeting with Hershey to assess the company’s progress. In the meantime, ICCR is developing a chocolate retailer comparison chart to assess the social policies of the major retailers. The chart may be released to the public later this year.
