Children, Chocolate, and Profits: A Policy-Oriented Analysis of Child Labor and the Chocolate Industry Giants

Authors

Ann W. Deam

Abstract

In 2001, the chocolate industry adopted the Harkin-Engel Protocol, also referred to as the Chocolate Industry Protocol, in which it "publicly acknowledged the problem of forced child labor" with a promise to "commit significant resources to address it" and ensure that "cocoa beans and their derivative products have been grown and/or processed without any of the worst forms of child labor." The noble goals set forth in this voluntary, self-regulating agreement were to be attained by 2005. Twenty years have passed since the signing of the Chocolate Industry Protocol (CIP). The purpose of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of the CIP and the status of child labor in the cocoa supply chain in the years since.

Recommended Citation

Ann W. Deam, Children, Chocolate, and Profits: A Policy-Oriented Analysis of Child Labor and the Chocolate Industry Giants, 15 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/ihrlr/vol15/iss1/7