Our call to cocoa key players
Tony's Open Chain challenges the industry & governments to do more
We believe businesses must be held accountable for identifying and resolving any human rights abuses or environmental harm in their value chains, and we advocate for this to be standard for all companies. When voluntary efforts have been proven ineffective, governments must make laws to hold companies accountable for what happens in their supply chains.
Five key players to drive change
Governments must raise the floor while the other four key players raise the bar to protect human & environment rights.
Regulatory legislation to hold companies accountable
Neither legal challenges nor voluntary self-regulation has adequately addressed the cocoa supply chains' issues. Only legislation mandating oversight of supply chains, with clear standards and penalties for non-compliance, will make companies confront the problems embedded in cocoa supply chains: deforestation and poverty.
Principles for cocoa legislation
Define cocoa as a high-risk sector with no exemptions, meaning all companies regardless of size, including SMEs, should be in scope.
Address environmental degradation and deforestation, as well as child labour, forced labour, and recognise a living wage and a living income as Human Rights. In particular “the right to an adequate standard of living” should require companies to look at their purchasing practices and the price they pay for cocoa.
Provide a reporting framework with a set of mandatory elements to enhance sector transparency and alignment on efforts and progress.
Require that effective sanctions are put in place, with civil liability regimes and access to justice . This includes victims being guaranteed access to remedies.
Enact clear, transparent civil penalties to be levied against offending companies for non-compliance.
Applying the six steps of due diligence in cocoa
Legislation should build upon recognised international frameworks including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, making them legally enforceable. Due diligence legislation should also be aligned with national and regional efforts, such as ARS-1000 (series of African standards for sustainable cocoa).
