Truth or tale: is Swiss chocolate tainted by child labour?
Series Truth or tale,
Episode 2:
A reader asked if it was true that children are involved in cocoa production for the Swiss chocolate industry. Swissinfo tried to get to the bottom of this complex issue.
Swiss chocolate companies are obliged to ensure that their products are not produced using child labour. The Swiss Ordinance on Due Diligence and Transparency in relation to Minerals and Metals from Conflict-Affected Areas and Child Labour requires firms to check the risks of child labour in their supply chains and report them to the government. Companies can be fined up to CHF100,000 ($125,000) if they fail to meet these obligations or provide false information.
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Child labour risks in chocolate supply chains go beyond just cocoa
In addition, countries like the Ivory Coast and Ghana that produce almost 60% of the cocoa used by Swiss chocolate industry, prohibit children below the age of 15 from engaging in hazardous work. However, these regulations are difficult to enforce, especially in remote regions.
Therefore many chocolate companies opt to source their cocoa from farms and cooperatives certified by labels like Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance that prohibit the use of child labour. Third party audits are regularly carried out by specialists who visit operations and review working conditions. Farms can be suspended until problems found are corrected, and if they occur systematically, farms can lose their certification.
Despite these regulations and safeguards, it is estimated that 1.56 million children between the ages of 5-17 work on cocoa farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast with the vast majority (about 80%) working on their family farms. Even if Swiss chocolate companies can trace all their cocoa back to individual farms, it is impossible to guarantee that their products are 100% child labour free.
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What companies can do is set up monitoring and remediation systems that help identify cases of child labour and find solutions to ensure they do not happen again. The root cause of child labour is poverty that can only be resolved in the long-term by ensuring cocoa farmers earn a living income.
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