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The Dark Side of Chocolate

The United States Supreme Court has refused to dismiss a child labour lawsuit holding Nestlé accountable for human rights violations on its cocoa plantations in Western Africa.

The chocolate industry is worth an estimated £60 billion per year, and Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa in the world. Nestlé’s plantations there have been under scrutiny for years. The current case dates back to 2005, when human rights lawyer Terry Collingsworth filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Nestlé, as well as Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill Inc., on the grounds that these three companies offered financial and technical assistance to the farmers guaranteeing the cheapest source of cocoa, while fully aware of child slavery and trafficking occurring in these settings.

The three plaintiffs were taken from their homes in Mali to harvest cocoa beans in Ivory Coast, where they were locked up, physically abused and forced to work long days without pay. Collingsworth said, “On behalf of current and former child slaves in the cocoa sector in West Africa, the plaintiffs hope their case will help to end this inhumane practice.”

The Supreme Court’s decision has left in place the December 2014 ruling in the San Francisco-based Court of Appeals refusing to dismiss the lawsuit.

A significant factor in this case is the 2013 ruling in the Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. case, in which the court unanimously dismissed the allegations of torture and murder by twelve Nigerians against Royal Dutch Shell Plc, on the grounds that the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) does not apply extraterritorially. ATS was part of the 1789 Judiciary Act, which presumably was intended to convince foreign companies that the U.S. would act should there be a breach of international law. This ruling has been cited many times in similar cases against American companies. The Appeals Court has suggested the plaintiffs amend the lawsuit, and Collingsworth has said that “ we will amend our complaint and we’ll see if the defendants want to try to dismiss it again, but we’re hoping we are moving closer to getting to trial.”

Nestlé has made efforts to eliminate these practices on their plantations through education and training. However, awareness remains low due to a lack of participation on the part of the farmers who are too busy or simply uninterested. In a statement, Nestlé said “The use of child labour is unacceptable and goes against everything Nestlé stands for. Nestlé is committed to following and respecting all international laws and is dedicated to the goal of eradicating child labour from our cocoa supply chain.”

It remains to be seen if their policies are sufficient, as the Fair Labour Association (FLA) does not agree. Nestlé is currently lacking a system to verify the age of workers, as the FLA has discovered during plantation visits that dozens of workers were under the age of eighteen, with many under fifteen, and were not attending school.

Different business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have pushed for the court to hear the case. It seems that the Supreme Court’s ruling will encourage the case to head in that direction.

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