Documents to help with research: great for journalists, students and educators.

From the US Department of Labor:

Lists of goods produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor-US.gov

ILAB-Reducing Child and Forced Labor-a took kit for businesses

Finding on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Business Responsibility and Supply Chains

Note from director of SFC. The following in the DOL description of EO 13126 which state that the federal government won't purchase goods tied to child labor and slavery. Cocoa is listed but the federal government doesn't buy cocoa it buys it's derivative product chocolate. If EO 13126 would include "Cocoa and it's derivative products" it would mean that Hershey's, Nestle etc. wouldn't be able to sell to those that purchase chocolate for the federal government: The DOL states: "Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor," was signed on June 12, 1999. The Executive Order is intended to ensure that U.S. federal agencies do not procure goods made by forced or indentured child labor. It requires the Department of Labor, in consultation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security, to publish and maintain a list of products, by country of origin, which the three Departments have a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. Under the procurement regulations implementing the Executive Order, federal contractors who supply products on a list published by the Department of Labor must certify that they have made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to produce the items listed.

From the United Nations:

Worst forms of Child Labor ILO Convention 182: The International Labor Organization is an agency of the United Nations that deals with labor issues. Convention 182 concerns the worst forms of child labor. Basically, it is normal for a child to work on a farm in developing countries. These children, though must have access to education and be in school a set number of hours a day, they need to have access to medical care and should not have to work with dangerous equipment and chemicals and lift heavy equipment. A child is at risk for falling under the Worst Forms of Child Labor when they don't have a school to attend, a clinic when they are sick or injured and are working in unsafe conditions. Both Ghana and Côte D' Ivôire have signed this agreement.

History of Cacao Articles:

William Cadbury, Chocolate, and Slavery in Portuguese West Africa

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Lindsey Flewelling

By the 1870s, as demand for coffee and cocoa from West Africa was rapidly increasing, Portugal abolished slavery in its colonies. But demand for labor continued to increase. Plantation owners and government officials developed a state-supported system of contract labor, by which the people of West Africa would sign contracts to provide five years of labor for a set wage. Workers were allegedly free to return to their homes at the end of their contracts if they chose, but among those who were sent to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe (around 4,000 people per year by the turn of the century), no one ever returned. Read Full Article Here.

Interview: Juan Gonzalez owner

of The Mexican Arabica Bean Company

Ontario, Canada

by Ayn Riggs of SlaveFreeChocolate.org

SFC: How did you come to work in the coffee and cocoa bean industry?

JG: All my life I have been working in the coffee and cocoa beans. When I was a child, I worked in the plantations helping my mother in the harvest season and just about 10 years ago I started working again but now an importer and seller.

SFC: When did you hear about child labor problems in West Africa?

JG: All my life I’ve known about it, this is not a new history always. It has been since colonial times.

SFC: Can you tell me about your experiences harvesting cocoa in your youth?

JG: We get up at 4 am to start working, we use to live in the farms ground for the season and after we finish, we move to another province and another farm, I start working since I was 8 years old.

SFC: Do you see a potential child labor problem arising in Central or South America?

JG: Not that same level as Africa, but there are a lot of possibilities. A lot of farms using one kind of child labor, all dependent on the local government, what can see this kind the problem can raise in Asia.

SFC: There is a vastly growing number of small bean to bar chocolatiers that are buying ethically sourced cocoa, aside from this, can you think of other ways they can help in the industry in regard to child labor and slavery?

JG: We have 2 problems here, most of all the small chocolate makers do not buy directly, they don't have any idea about these big problems. They love the self-promotion and push their brands. It is very costly for a small chocolate company to buy beans directly. Their chocolate bars would have to cost $15 a piece. So, they buy form me and put on their packages that they purchase their beans directly. Sometimes they take a trip to cocoa farms for some selfies and return home. Some buy small portions of the cocoa beans directly then fill the gap with cheap slave tainted chocolate.

SFC: What do you see going forward is the biggest challenge for chocolatiers and cocoa wholesalers? JG: Prices and values. Why because fine flavors cocoa bean with all the certifications can cost 3 times more the conventional, you have to remember chocolate is a luxury product and not a necessity like milk, eggs, bread or vegetables even coffee, so high prices and social conciseness can be a big challenge to be in business. I’ve been in this industry for 30 years and there is still a lot of poverty in the coffee and cocoa bean industry despite the Fair-Trade movement. Certification and cost are so big plus they not helping in anything to places of origin, the only good thing is the farmer can sell a higher price if the market they are low

SFC: What do you do aside from sourcing ethical cocoa to aid the plight of the farmers and their children?

JG: Well every year we have been collecting school supplies and backpacks and send to Honduras to the co-op the I working within buying coffee and cocoa beans, together we promote SAID NOT A CHILD LABOR I start that idea and I find the support the I need in deliver the supplies to the local schools and places where the kids of farmers attending school,

SFC: How do you see climate change affecting your supply of coffee and cocoa beans?

JG: It affects everything, not just the coffee and cocoas beans supplies but all food supplies, the trees they are changing when the flower starts also the despair of the bees who is the most important helper but this is a big-picture the humans have a big part in this and they can help and change but only the planet has the last word.

SFC: What are you most passionate about in regard to your business?

JG: See the happy faces of the farmers and think the with my support I can help just a little be in their lives

SFC: What type of chocolate is your favorite?

JG: I don't eat chocolate; I just taste, and I love the nips and the beans I eat all day long raw and roast they give me a lot of energy ;)