Child welfare advocates have filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to force the Biden administration to block imports of cocoa harvested by children in West Africa that ends up in America’s most popular chocolate desserts and candies.
The nonprofit group says it filed the suit because Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security have ignored extensive evidence documenting children cultivating cocoa destined for well-known U.S. candy makers, including Hershey, Mars, Nestle and Cargill.
Don’t give these companies your money (especially Nestle).
Ignored? I don’t think such a decision as “doesn’t count if it’s not on our soil” is really ignoring, now. It’s more like aiding and abetting.
In their lawsuit, the group of men alleged that they were forced to work on the cocoa farms for 12-14 hours a day. They also said they were kept under armed guard while they slept, in order to prevent them from escaping, and were paid little beyond basic food.
While decrying child slavery, the companies argued the case should instead be made against the traffickers and the farmers who kept them in such conditions.
In its decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court ruled that while Nestlé USA and Cargill provided the farms with technical and financial resources, there was no evidence that business decisions made in the US led to the men’s forced labour.
A lot of these children are actually trafficked into slavery from elsewhere.
