Senate Finance Ranking Member Calls for Withhold Release Order on Cocoa Imports
Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, wrote to Kevin McAleenan, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, telling him that most cocoa from the Ivory Coast should be stopped at the ports. The letter they sent July 16 said that a report in The Washington Post in June had photos and first-hand accounts that West African cocoa producers rely on indentured child labor.
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"In light of this overwhelming evidence -- which more than meets the evidentiary standard outlined in regulations at 19 CFR 12.42(e) -- we urge you to work with CBP to quickly issue a WRO [withhold release order] against cocoa products from the Ivory Coast that are not demonstrated to be from sources free of child labor. Forced child labor is too ingrained in that country’s industry to attempt to single out specific cocoa farms or producers as bad actors," they said. CBP didn't comment.
The senators noted that Hershey, Mars and Nestle originally agreed to eradicate child labor from their supply chains in West Africa by 2005. "We urge you to instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to use its authority under 19 USC 1307 to investigate and block cocoa imports made with forced labor from entering the U.S. market and, where appropriate, pursue criminal investigations related to the use of forced labor to produce goods being imported into the United States," they said.
A CBP spokesperson said the agency is aware of the allegations. "Our laws prohibits the importation of goods into the United States mined, manufactured, or produced wholly or in part from forced labor, including forced child labor and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforce these laws to protect individuals from forced labor and our Nation’s economy from businesses profiting from this form of modern slavery," the spokesperson said by email. "Reviewing allegations of forced labor is one of the agency’s top priorities."
Hershey and Mars didn't comment. “Forced child labor is unacceptable and has no place in our supply chain," a Nestle spokesperson said by email. "We have explicit policies against it and are working with other stakeholders to combat this global social problem. As part of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, we are working with local communities in West Africa to try to address the root causes of child labor while ensuring that these communities remain financially and socially sustainable.”