Tackling child labour in the chocolate industry
As Easter approaches and sales of chocolate increase, so does concern about the ongoing problem of child labour in the cocoa industry. Recent programs in Switzerland, Germany and Denmark have taken a closer look at the cocoa industry and where our chocolate comes from. On 24 March, the BBC broadcasted a Panorama special, Chocolate - The Bitter Truth.
The Fairtrade Foundation feels that, despite some glaring
inconsistencies and omissions, the program portrayed Fairtrade as the
best solution to child labour issues – this is what they publish on
their website….
“Fairtrade is working as hard as possible to play
an even more proactive role towards the elimination of the worst forms
of child labour. No person or organisation is currently able to
guarantee 100% that, in the context of endemic poverty and insecurity
in many developing countries, child labour will never occur.
Fairtrade
guarantees that through our standards, our certification, our producer
support and our work to strengthen farmers' organisations to implement
community-owned programmes, we will do everything we can to tackle it
on a progressive basis, and to secure both the livelihoods of farmers
and the wellbeing of children.”
This is a brief excerpt of the
comments that the Fairtrade Foundation has provided to Panorama. The
organisation's extensive response and additional information about its
work in the cocoa industry have been made available in PDF format.In light of this recent media attention, we'd like to take the opportunity to address the ongoing reality of child labour in the cocoa industry and explain what we in the Fairtrade movement have been doing to increase our own efforts to combat it.
Read moreThe Fairtrade Foundation in the UK was not permitted to see any Panorama footage
in advance of the programme broadcast. But we did provide a written
response to their questions.
Download our letter here (170.46KB).