UK chocolate manufacturers have said they will look into allegations that they might be using cocoa produced by child slave labour in West Africa – but have said they are surprised by the claims and have found no evidence of such practices themselves.
The allegations were made in a Channel 4 TV documentary, Secret History, which suggested child slave labour was widespread on plantations in the Ivory Coast, which accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa crop.
The body that represents UK chocolate manufacturers – the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionery Alliance (BCCCA) – said neither it nor any of its members had ever ‘seen or heard’ of slavery on cocoa farms there – nor had European companies it had consulted.
However, it said it would take immediate action if inspections revealed any evidence.
‘The international cocoa industry makes regular visits to the Ivory Coast and if in the course of these visits later this year any evidence of these abhorrent practices is revealed we will inform the appropriate authorities and insist they take the necessary preventative action,’ it said.
The Ivory Coast government has admitted there is a problem with child labour, but not child slave labour, in the cocoa industry, mainly among young immigrants from Mali.
One of the biggest chocolate makers, Cadbury Schweppes, said it was ‘horrified and surprised’ at the claims made by Channel 4. It has backed the BCCCA’s stance, which includes a commitment to ‘liaise with the development community, as well as international financial institutions’ on the issue.