United States chocolate manufacturers, including Hershey’s and Mars, received unwelcomed media attention in 2001 as reports of the use of child labor on West African cocoa farms surfaced. Investigations revealed that children harvest cocoa beans under conditions that qualify as the “worst forms of child labor” as defined in International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 182. Under ILO Convention 182, ratifying countries commit themselves to eliminating the worst forms of child labor.
The child labor abuses on West African cocoa farms have far-reaching consequences as Côte d’Ivoire (also known as the Ivory Coast), Ghana, Cameroon, and Nigeria produce 70% of the world’s cocoa, with Côte d’Ivoire alone accounting for almost 40% of that supply. With the United States importing 20% of Côte d’Ivoire’s exports of cocoa products, and that number representing almost half of the United States’ supply, child labor likely produced much of the chocolate products that United States’ consumers enjoy.
The United States Department of State estimates that approximately 109,000 children in Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor.” Among other hazards, children carry heavy loads of cocoa beans, apply pesticide and fertilizer without protective gear, and use machetes to clear underbrush and cut open cocoa beans. Many child workers are underfed and beaten on a regular basis, and most do not attend school. One study estimates that up to 10,000 of these children are victims of trafficking.
Media reports accused United States chocolate manufacturers of complicity in child labor practices on West African cocoa farms, but chocolate manufacturers denied responsibility, stating that they neither owned the cocoa farms nor controlled the labor practices of local farmers. Initially, industry representatives even denied that child labor existed on the cocoa farms. The chain of production for chocolate products is long and complex, with chocolate products reaching consumers only through several intermediaries, which include local farmers, local middlemen, exporters, and international traders and manufacturers. To complicate matters further, cocoa beans from various farms are combined together before being exported, making it impossible to discern their source; cocoa beans originating from farms that use child labor are indistinguishable from the cocoa beans originating from farms that do not.
Lawmakers struggled to reach solutions that would require chocolate manufacturers to ensure that their cocoa products do not contain cocoa beans harvested by child labor. Most notably, Representative Eliot Engel proposed an amendment to the 2002 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that would have earmarked $250,000 for the Food and Drug Administration to develop a “slave free” label for chocolate products. The Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) hired former Senators Bob Dole and George Mitchell to lobby against the provision, knowing that their products would not qualify for the “slave free” label. Although the provision passed in the House of Representatives, a companion provision was never introduced in the Senate.
Amid threats of boycotts and calls for other punitive measures by the general public, the chocolate industry met with various stakeholders, including NGOs, labor organizations, government officials and politicians, to propose alternative solutions to the child labor problem, eventually leading to a compromise in September 2001. In exchange for Congress withdrawing the provision for a mandatory “slave free” label, the CMA reached an agreement with the stakeholders to voluntarily remedy the child labor problem. The agreement is commonly referred to as the Harkin-Engel Protocol, named after Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Eliot Engel, both of whom played major roles during the negotiations.
The Harkin-Engel Protocol (Protocol), signed September 19, 2001, is a voluntary, nonbinding, and nonlegislative document that outlines six steps for the chocolate industry to take in order to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in its supply chain in compliance with international labor standards. However, because of the Protocol’s voluntariness, it has been largely unsuccessful in eliminating child labor practices on West African cocoa farms. This Note argues that proposed solutions must be removed from the hands of industry leaders and situated within state regulatory frameworks to be effective.
This Note examines how the United States government can effectively prevent the importation of cocoa products produced by child labor on West African cocoa farms into the United States. Part II addresses the application of internationally recognized labor standards to transnational corporations (TNCs) through both international law and national legislation and why these efforts have been inadequate. Part III provides an overview of the debate regarding the use of voluntary initiatives in place of legally binding state regulation to curb labor violations by transnational corporations. Part IV details the six steps of the Protocol and comments on the Protocol’s effectiveness. Part V highlights recently enacted legislation addressing child labor in the agricultural industry and distinguishes it from the Protocol. Finally, Part VI argues that this new legislation should be applied to the child labor problem on West African farms and proposes provisions that would make its implementation more effective.