Further memorandum submitted by Nestlé
CERTIFICATION: HELPING
CHILDREN, FAMILIES,
COMMUNITIES
Responsible Labor Practices in Cocoa Farming
The chocolate and cocoa industry is working
to improve the well-being of children and adults on cocoa farms,
worldwide. This work includes a commitment to ensuring that cocoa
is farmed in a responsible manner.
The industry is working with West African governments,
NGOs and labor experts to design and implement "certification"
for cocoa farming labor practices. The program is part of a broader,
ongoing effort to promote economic and social development in cocoa
farming communities.
Certification for cocoa farming addresses two
principal questions:
What child and adult labor issues exist on
cocoa farms in West Africa?
Are steps being taken to address these issues?
How are the lives of children and families on cocoa farms improving?
Cocoa certification is a transparent, credible
and ongoing program that reports on labor conditions in the West
African cocoa farming sector—on a country-by-country basis.
The cocoa certification program also measures the effectiveness
of work to ensure that cocoa is grown responsibly, without the
worst forms of child labor or forced adult labor.
Cocoa certification represents a major step
forward in efforts to improve the well-being of children, farm
families and communities in the cocoa sector.
This is the first program to address labor issues
involving a farm-based commodity, grown on several million small;
family owned and operated farms in the developing world.
Cocoa certification will include:
— Data collection—at the community
and farm level—that provides a statistically representative
view of child labor and forced adult labor problems.
— Transparent, publicly available annual
reporting on the findings from the data collection, and on the
impact of efforts to improve labor conditions.
— Remediation—a range of activities
designed to improve the well-being of children and address the
issues brought to light by the survey.
— Independent verification of the data
collection, reporting and efforts to improve labor conditions.
These elements are designed to work together
to drive continuous improvement in the well-being of children,
families and cocoa farming communities.
When implemented, the process will certify that
within a country's cocoa sector, efforts are in place to measure
and report on labor practices and help those who may be in a child
or forced labor situation.
Hundreds of experts, representing a wide range
of government agencies, organisations and industry, have worked
since 2001 to develop a credible certification system for cocoa
farming—something never before attempted over so large a
rural area in the developing world.
March 2007
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