Chocolate makers plan to end child labour

NEW YORK - US chocolate makers are preparing a voluntary plan to end child labour on West African cocoa farms, hoping their efforts will prevent Congress from pushing for chocolate products to carry labels reading "no child slavery".

Facing pressure from lawmakers and non-governmental organisations, the biggest chocolate companies have promised to have credible certification standards established by July 1.

"The members of Congress are quite aware of all the work that's going on. We are working with the government here and with governments overseas," said Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the Chocolate Manufacturers Association.

"There are a lot of things that need to be improved and we understand that. Cocoa farmer families certainly need a lot more help, and we are working on that," she said.

Failing to meet the deadline could bring a political and public relations backlash for the industry, which took in some US$15 billion ($21 billion) in retail sales last year.

Not all industry watchdogs say putting labels on chocolate bars is the best solution.

"I think all of us are going to urge more efforts," said Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, a non-profit organisation working to end slavery worldwide.

"Let's not beat them (industry) with sticks; let's hold out some carrots too," he said. Legislating labels could end up harming West Africans reliant on income from cocoa bean sales more than it harms the chocolate industry, he added.

The chocolate industry's darker side surfaced several years ago in reports that children were forced to harvest cocoa crops in West Africa. More than 40 per cent of the world's cocoa beans come from Ivory Coast, a country struggling to end a civil war.

Darlene Adkins, coordinator of the Child labour Coalition, said labels would be a huge endeavour and could curtail the flow of cocoa arriving in the US, most of which comes from Ivory Coast and neighbouring Ghana.

"It could eventually mean higher prices on consumers. My hope is that the protocol will work and that we don't have to go there," she said.

Industry-proposed standards will pave the way for farm labour monitoring and independent verification across the West African cocoa region during the 2005/06 crop harvest, with the first certification report issued in early 2006, Smith added.

- REUTERS