Harkin–Engel Protocol Wikipedia Page
The Harkin–Engel Protocol is a public-private agreement to eliminate the worst forms of child labor (defined according to the International Labour Organization (ILO)'s Convention 182) in the growth and processing of cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. The protocol was a voluntary agreement that partnered governments, the global cocoa industry, cocoa producers, cocoa laborers, non-governmenal organizations. The agreement laid out a series of date-specific actions, including the development of voluntary standards of public certification. The Protocol did not commit the industry to ending all child labor in cocoa production, only the worst forms of it. The parties agreed to a six-article plan:
Harkin–Engel Protocol Wikipedia Page
In April 2018, the Cocoa Barometer 2018 report on the $100-billion industry, said this about the child labor situation: "Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sectorwide objective of the elimination of child labour, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labour by 2020".
Harkin–Engel Protocol Wikipedia Page
The protocol laid out a non-binding agreement for the cocoa industry to regulate itself without any legal implications, but Engel threatened to reintroduce legislation if the deadlines were not met. This agreement was one of the first times an American industry was subjected to self-regulation and one of the first times self-regulation was used to address an international human rights issue.
Harkin–Engel Protocol Wikipedia Page
In 2009, cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire and Nigeria was added to a list of products made by forced child labor maintained by the Department of Labor. This listing stemmed from a request by Anti-Slavery International in 2004 to investigate if Ivorian cocoa should be on this list. Executive Order 13126 requires federal contractors who supply products on the list must prove they have made a good faith effort to determine if the products were produced under forced labor. Thus contractors must prove they have made a good faith effort to determine if cocoa was produced under forced labor.
The protocol was signed in 2001, with the intention that the 6 principles would be implemented by 2005. At that date, the requirements were not met; no certification standard, no change in the price of chocolate to enable cocoa farmers to lift themselves out of poverty. Companies are criticised for implementing the protocol at the lowest cost, without taking action to change the business model of the cocoa industry, which remains dependent on child labour.
Indeed, the protocol is a non-binding agreement, so that the cocoa industry regulates itself without legal implication. Corporate self-regulation is favoured to address a human rights issue.
In 2009, cocoa from the Ivory Coast and Nigeria was added to the list of products produced by child labour. Under Executive Order 13126, federal contractors who supply products on the list must prove that they have made a good faith effort to determine whether the products were produced using forced labour.
With the targets still not met in 2010, a new joint statement was issued: reduce the worst forms of child labour by 70% by 2020. In 2011, the cocoa industry had not completed any of the six articles.
Last modification 12/05/2021
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