What is the Harkin/Engel Protocol?
The
Harkin-Engel protocol is commonly known as the Cocoa Protocol. The protocol is
an international agreement which is aimed to end of the worst forms of child
labour and forced labour in the production of cocoa beans from West Africa. It
was a partnership with United States Senator Harkin and Representative Engel
that was signed in 2001. The protocol was a voluntary agreement that would involve partnered
governments, the global cocoa industry, cocoa producers, cocoa labourers,
non-governmental organizations. The agreement laid out a series of
date-specific actions, including the development of voluntary standards of
public certification. The Protocol did not commit the industry to ending all child
labour in cocoa production, only the worst forms of.
Many industries have been working
closely with Senator Harkin and Representative Engel to meet the achievements
so far in the protocol It is no small task to do as no group has ever before
attempted to report on labour conditions across an entire agricultural sector in
the developing world. Over the past decade, the industry has spent more than
$75 million on activities related to the reduction of the worst forms of child
labour in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, including $18 million for the International
Cocoa Initiative, the foundation set up under the Protocol. Industry has also
committed $7 million to further the goals of the Framework of Action. This
industry partnership includes the participation of ADM, Barry Callebaut,
Cargill, Ferrero, The Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, Mars Incorporated, and
Nestle.
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The agreement, known as the "Harkin Engel Protocol " prescribes a comprehensive, six-point problem-solving approach along with a time-bound process for credibly eliminating the use of abusive child labour in cocoa growing.
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