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“UPON THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PASSAGE OF MR. ENGEL'S AMENDMENT TO COMBAT CHILD SLAVERY IN THE COCOA INDUSTRY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1443 on July 1, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UPON THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PASSAGE OF MR. ENGEL'S AMENDMENT TO
COMBAT CHILD SLAVERY IN THE COCOA INDUSTRY
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HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL
of new york
in the house of representatives
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update you and our colleagues on the efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry. In the United States, we spend approximately $13 billion per year consuming over 3 billion pounds of chocolate. Most Americans are completely unaware that their chocolate is tainted with slave labor.
Four years ago, the House overwhelmingly passed an amendment I offered to the FY02 Agriculture Appropriations to provide funds to the FDA to label cocoa products as being made free of child slave labor. I had learned about this heinous situation from a series of articles run by Knight-Ridder. With ease, reporters were able to locate children working the fields of the Ivory Coast who had been trafficked in from Mali and Burkina Faso.
In an interview, one of these boys, Aly Diabate, told how he was sold into slavery when he was barely 4 feet tall. He said, ``Some of the bags were taller than me. It took two people to put the bag on my head. And when you didn't hurry, you were beaten. The beatings were a part of my life. Anytime they loaded you with bags and you fell while carrying them, nobody helped you. Instead, they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again.''
One of the farmers, Dote Coulibay, explained that if a boy tries to escape ``If I let them go, I am losing money, because I spent money for them.'' Coulibay tells the boys ``If you try to escape, I'll catch you and beat you.''
I was so pleased and proud that my amendment passed, because I knew that it would lead to a great effort to end this horrible situation. I found a natural ally in my friend from Iowa, Senator Tom Harkin, who has for many years championed the rights of children around the globe.
Working with Senator Harkin, we engaged in discussions with the world's cocoa industry--always holding out the prospect of even stronger legislative language. Those negotiations led to an agreement that has become known as the Harkin-Engel Protocol. It is a voluntary agreement, signed by the leaders of the cocoa industry, including Hershey Food Corporation, Nestle, Mars, and Archer Daniels Midland Company.
Many called this an historic effort--an industry had agreed to take responsibility for the labor conditions on the farms, which they do not own.
The Protocol set out a series of deadlines--aggressive ones to be sure--that industry needed to meet to live up to its obligations. Industry met deadlines to reach out to and sign working agreements with NGOs who have expertise in this area. Industry created a foundation, called the International Cocoa Initiative, which is just now beginning its work to support social protection programs in West Africa.
However, the last deadline and most difficult will not be met. That deadline sought the development of credible, mutually acceptable, voluntary, industry-wide standards of public certification that cocoa beans and their derivative products have been grown and/or processed without any of the worst forms of child labor by July 1, 2005. However, this Friday an industry-wide child labor monitoring system will not be in place.
Industry has taken some positive steps to address the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry. These include the creation of the International Cocoa Initiative foundation, which is now beginning to form partnerships with NGOs to provide social protection programs in West Africa. They have also begun to educate farmers about the proper role of child labor through the ``farmer field schools'' that are run to help farmers produce a better crop.
Efforts have also been undertaken by the governments of the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The Ivory Coast is funding a small pilot child labor monitoring and protection program in Oume. Ghana has worked with the International Labor Organization and the West Africa Commercial Agriculture Program, WACAP, to Combat Hazardous and Exploitive Child Labor that identified more than 650 children working in the ``worst forms of child labor.'' WACAP covered less than 10 percent of the cocoa growing regions of Ghana--thus, tens of thousands of children could be in danger.
Over the last four years, I and my partners in this effort have learned much. Most importantly, we learned that it is vital for there to be social protection programs in place when children are found in these terrible circumstances. If there is not, there is a strong possibility that the child will be trafficked into a different industry, such as domestic servitude or sexual slavery.
Last week, Senator Harkin and I sat down with representatives of the cocoa industry. As a result of that meeting, I am comfortable that the industry is committed to moving forward even though I am disappointed that the original deadline was not met. Within the framework of the Protocol, I and my partners will work closely with industry to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. As we move beyond the original deadline, industry has assured me they will redouble their efforts to have a child labor monitoring system put in place and social protection programs as well. Industry has committed at least $15 million toward covering 50 percent of the growing areas of West Africa by the end of 2008.
The sad fact is that this is an international problem involving millions of slaves today. The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year. They also estimate that as many as 15,000 people are trafficked into the United States. Thus, all the nations of the Earth continue to suffer this tragedy and we must all work together to see it finally put to an end.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I must report that we have made progress in combating the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa industry. However, we have much, much more to do.
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