World Vision and Stop the Traffik welcome ethical chocolate announcement

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

World Vision Australia and Stop the Traffik have welcomed an announcement by chocolate company Mondelez International to invest $400 million in sustainable cocoa. This has the potential to change the lives of exploited children, and prevent children being trafficked onto cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast.

Mondelez International – formerly Kraft Foods – is the maker of Cadbury chocolates. The company says a significant proportion of their chocolate sold in Australia will soon be sourced in the Asia-Pacific region. An additional $100 million will be invested in sustainable programs in Ivory Coast – a country where children as young as six are forced to work 80-100 hours a week in the cocoa industry.

This seems like a strong step and an ambitious plan from Mondelez. However, the proof is in the chocolate bar and the plan will depend on the detail.

“We’re pleased to see Mondelez has prioritised third party verification of their supply chains in order to mitigate the risk of forced child and trafficked labour being used in their products,” said World Vision’s Child Protection and Trafficking in Persons Campaign Leader Ruth Dearnley. “However, it’s essential they provide a timetabled commitment to implementing this as soon as possible. Cocoa farming communities have been waiting too long for significant action from the global chocolate industry.”

In 2001, an agreement called the Harkin-Engel Protocol was signed between big chocolate companies, the US and Ivory Coast to eliminate the worst forms of child labour from their cocoa supply chains. A report by World Vision Australia in 2011 found that the agreement had failed. Australian NGOs and public supporters have since been campaigning tirelessly for reform in the industry.

“More details on transparency throughout the supply chain are required,” says Carolyn Kitto, Coordinator of Stop the Traffik Australia. “The Mondelez announcement does not mention the certification of cocoa beans. Therefore we are interested to read the full details of their plan to find out how they propose to audit and monitor human trafficking on cocoa plantations. We are also interested to learn how the $400 million will be divvied up between project and overhead costs.”

About 95% of the chocolate on Australian supermarket shelves today is not ethically certified and may have been produced using forced, child or trafficked labour. Ethical cocoa is cocoa that is independently certified to have been harvested without the use of forced, child or trafficked labour.

To speak to an expert on exploitative child and trafficked labour in the cocoa industry, please contact:

World Vision Australia – Ruth Dearnley +61 411 772 949
Stop the Traffik – Carolyn Kitto +61 438 040 959

Media Releases, Child labour, Asia and the Pacific, Cadbury, Child Labour, Chocolate, Cocoa Industry, Mondelez, West Africa

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