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                                                                                                 U.S. NEWS Wednesday 16 august 2023


            Advocates sue federal government for failing to ban imports of

            cocoa harvested by children





            By MARTHA MENDOZA                                                                                                   boys  from  West  African
            Associated Press                                                                                                    countries,  especially  Burki-
            WASHINGTON (AP) — Child                                                                                             na Faso, in forced labor in
            welfare  advocates  filed                                                                                           agriculture,  especially  co-
            a  federal  lawsuit  Tuesday                                                                                        coa production.”
            asking  a  judge  to  force                                                                                         To  try  to  force  compa-
            the  Biden  administration                                                                                          nies  to  abandon  cocoa
            to block imports of cocoa                                                                                           produced  by  child  labor,
            harvested  by  children  in                                                                                         International  Rights  Advo-
            West  Africa  that  can  end                                                                                        cates has sued some of the
            up in America’s most pop-                                                                                           world’s  large  chocolate
            ular  chocolate  desserts                                                                                           companies  over  the  use
            and  candies.  The  lawsuit,                                                                                        of child labor in harvesting
            brought  by  International                                                                                          cocoa beans. It lost a case
            Rights Advocates, seeks to                                                                                          before the Supreme Court
            have  the  federal  govern-                                                                                         in 2021. Several others are
            ment  enforce  a  1930s  era                                                                                        pending.Pressured by law-
            federal  law  that  requires                                                                                        makers  and  advocates,
            the  government  to  ban     In this April, 2020 image provided by International Rights Advocates, Executive Director Terrence   major  chocolate  makers
            products created by child    Collingsworth and translator Melina Cardinal Bradette, talk to children, ages 12 to 15, from Burkina   in 2001 agreed to stop pur-
            labor from entering the U.S.  Faso, who were working on a cocoa plantation in Ivory Coast in Daloa.                 chasing  cocoa  produced
            The  nonprofit  group  says                                                                        Associated Press   by child labor. q
            it  filed  the  suit  because
            Customs  and  Border  Pro-   dren in Cote d’Ivoire, also
            tection  and  the  Depart-   known  as  the  Ivory  Coast,
            ment  of  Homeland  Secu-    as  well  as  neighboring
            rity have ignored extensive   Ghana, is not a new phe-
            evidence     documenting     nomenon.  Human  rights
            children cultivating cocoa   leaders,  academics,  news
            destined  for  well-known    organizations  and  even
            U.S. candy makers, includ-   federal   agencies   have
            ing  Hershey,  Mars,  Nestle   spent the last two decades
            and Cargill.                 exposing the plight of chil-
            The major chocolate com-     dren  working  on  cocoa
            panies  pledged  to  end     plantations in the West Af-
            their  reliance  on  child  la-  rican  nations,  which  pro-
            bor to harvest their cocoa   duce  about  70%  of  the
            by 2005. Now they say they   world’s cocoa supply.
            will  eliminate  the  worst   A  2019  study  by  the  Uni-
            forms of child labor in their   versity  of  Chicago,  com-
            supply chains by 2025.       missioned by the U.S. gov-
            “They  will  never  stop  until   ernment,  found  790,000
            they  are  forced  to,”  said   children,  some  as  young
            Terry  Collingsworth,  Inter-  as 5, were working on Ivory
            national Rights Advocates’   Coast  cocoa  plantations.
            executive    director.   He   The  situation  was  similar  in
            added  that  the  U.S.  gov-  neighboring  Ghana,  re-
            ernment has “the power to    searchers found.
            end  this  incredible  abuse   The  U.S.  government  has
            of  African  children  by  en-  long recognized that child
            forcing the law.”            labor  is  a  major  problem
            Spokespeople for CBP de-     in the Ivory Coast. The De-
            clined to comment on the     partment  of  Labor  report-
            suit, which was filed in the   ed  in  2021  that  “children
            U.S.  Court  of  International   in  Côte  d’Ivoire  are  sub-
            Trade.  When  asked  more    jected to the worst forms of
            generally  about  cocoa      child labor, including in the
            produced  by  child  labor,   harvesting  of  cocoa  and
            the  federal  agency  said   coffee.”
            it  was  “unable  to  disclose   The State Department in a
            additional  information  or   recent report said that ag-
            plans regarding forced la-   riculture  companies  in  the
            bor enforcement activities   Ivory Coast rely on child la-
            due  to  protections  of  law   bor to produce a range of
            enforcement sensitive and    products, including cocoa.
            business  confidential  infor-  The  department  said  this
            mation.”                     year that human traffickers
            Cocoa  cultivation  by  chil-  “exploit  Ivoirian  boys  and
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