Canadian chocolate companies pressed to ethically source cocoa

As Canadians indulgethemselves onthis annual day of chocolate consumption (or Valentine's Day as it's known in some circles), World Vision is urging consumers to buy ethically certified, child labour-free treats.

The non-profit organization is reintroducing its Good Chocolate Guide, a list of fair trade chocolate companies to helpCanadians make more informedpurchases.

The cocoa industry has long been plagued with revelations of human trafficking and child labour abuses. Global criticism has pushed a number of major companies to commit to sourcing only ethical, child labour-free chocolate by 2020, including the Hershey Company and Italian confectionerFerrero.

Children, because they're still developing, are more vulnerable,- Benjamin Smith, senior officer at International Labour Organization

World Visionjoined the campaign and is corralling Canadian companies to make the same pledge.

The organization reached out to the 10 biggest chocolate companies in the country, includingGanongBros.,Lindtand Rocky Mountain, to probe their efforts to address child labour in cocoa harvesting. It asked questions such as, "Do you commit to source only ethical cocoa by 2020 for all of your products?" and "Will the cocoa be certified ethical by a third party or independent organization?"

World Vision compiled the answers into a "chocolate scorecard" and of the 10 companies questioned, only fourLindt, Purdy's, Rocky Mountain and Rogers' Chocolatessaid yes to the 2020 pledge.

Ganong Bros., Nutriart(the company behind Laura Secord) andWorld's Finest Chocolate(supplierfor school chocolate fundraisers)did not respond, despite more than a year's worth of attemptsby the aid agency.

"We want to be aware of their situation," said advocacy campaignmanager Cheryl Hotchkiss.

World Vision believes that any effort to look at this problem is worth it.

The darker side of chocolate

To delveinto the problem of child labour is to delveinto the darker side of chocolate, requiring Canadians to travel (if only hypothetically) to the global southspecifically, the West African countries of Ghana and Ivory Coastwhere about 60 per cent of cocoa crops can be found. Ivory Coastalone supplies 40 per cent of the global cocoa market.

According to World Vision, in Ivory Coast, about 10,000 child labourers were identified as having been trafficked from neighbouring countries and sold into slave labour for little or no wages.

Im not suggesting that [productcertifications] dont have significant limitations- Kernaghan Webb, corporate social responsibilityexpert

However, the vast majority of child labourers aren't trafficked or working as slaves. Most of the time, they work with their families on remote, rural farms starting from a young age.

According to the International Labour Organization, the hazards involved withcocoa farming can lead to anything as benign as thorn pricks from planting seeds to more serious health effects like corroded hands and poisoning from spreading fertilizers and pesticides. Children can also get skeletal injuries from carrying heavy loads of seedlings on their heads.

"Children, because they're still developing, are more vulnerable," said Benjamin Smith, a senior officer at ILO.

The problem of child labour extends beyond the cocoa farms to the lack of adequate social infrastructure and educational opportunities, which Smith said are the root causes.

The federal government lists Ghana as a country of focus for development assistance, one of 20 countries receiving 80 per cent of Canadian bilateral aid. Canadadoesn't have much of a development presence in Ivory Coast.

Industry takes on voluntary pledge

In 2001, the U.S. Congress was close to legislating a requirement for all cocoa products to have "slave-free" labels, to be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The cocoa industry pushed back and offered to voluntarily implement better labour standards in exchange for the bill to be withdrawn.

Thus, the non-bindingHarkin-EngelProtocol was drawn up, negotiated by U.S. SenatorTomHarkinand Congressman EliotEngel, outlining howthe international cocoa industry wouldend the worst forms of child labour in the production of cocoa in Ghana and Ivory Coastby 2005.

Industry action involves market-based certification programs such as Fair Trade, according to Kernaghan Webb, the director of Ryerson University's Institute of Corporate Social Responsibility.

"Essentially, upstream 'brands'can insist that suppliers meet certain environmental or social conditions, and they have the market power (and the infrastructure and the sophistication) to push change through their supply chain," Webb wrote in an email to CBC News.

Buthe notes,"Im not suggesting that such programs are 'the answer'and Im not suggesting that they dont have significant limitations."

Without any punitive consequences, the cocoa industry failed to meet the Harkin-Engel2005 deadline. And so it waspushedto 2008. And then to 2010.

And finally, 2020.

Child labour-free a 'dubious' claim, says expert

Chocolate companies are making gradualstrides.

For example,last monthHershey's announced that 18 per cent of all cocoa the company sourced globally was certified ethical, and that it was "on track to meet its goal of sourcing100 per cent certified cocoa by 2020."

But the ILO is skeptical of the notion of child labour-freechocolate.

"It's a very dubious claim, really," said Smith.

Smith said the cocoa industry in West Africa depends on child labour, and with a million farms dotting the remote rural landscape, "it's very difficultto guarantee that no child labour was used in the chocolate effort."

His ILO colleague, Alex Soho, agreed. Soho said labour inspectors are few in number and the remote locations of cocoa plantations make it very difficult for the inspectorsto do their jobs properly.

When it comes to certification programs such as Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance, Smith saidthose generally only guarantee price premiums, which "can help alleviate some of the drivers of child labour."

"Beyond guarantee of price, there is no guarantee frankly.

He said certification has been a distractionand that there's currently ashift from certification of chocolate to boosting livelihoods and reducingpoverty in the farming communities. Smith and Soho creditthe industry for playing a large part, including working incoalition groups like the International Cocoa Initiative.

"Theyrecognized that child labour is not sustainable to their supply."

Hotchkiss is of the same opinion. She said her work with theWorld Vision campaign shows her that companies are responding and bowing to public pressure because"Canadians are, in fact,interested in buying ethical products."

She points to the Good Chocolate Guide. There are more companies on the list today compared to last year.