Charity Ryerson
A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and ...

This year, states will begin implementing a global minimum tax rate of fifteen percent on multinational corporations with more than €750 million (about $810 million) in revenues. If these tax reforms succeed in increasing tax revenues across the approximately 140 implementing countries as they intend, these additional funds could be used to advance the social and economic rights of their citizens, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including those whose rights have been abused by corporations historically. However, the coming tax reforms are still so riddled with gray areas regarding form and function that it is too early to call the initiative a victory in corporate accountability.  

A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and Human Rights Implications
Charity Ryerson
Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del ...

Durante los 365 días desde que se bloqueó la entrada de su azúcar a los Estados Unidos por trabajo forzoso, el Central Romana ha optado por implementar sólo cambios superficiales para los cañeros y utilizar estrategias políticas en un aparente intento de hacer desaparecer la WRO.

Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del Central Romana en mercado EEUU por trabajo forzoso
Charity Ryerson
One year since Central Romana sugar banned from ...

Over the 365 days since its sugar was blocked from entering the United States, Central Romana has chosen to implement only superficial changes for workers while pulling political strings in an apparent effort to make the import ban disappear. 

One year since Central Romana sugar banned from US market for forced labor
Avery Kelly
Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive ...

Last month, The Guardian revealed that Canadian pipeline company Enbridge has paid Minnesota police more than two and a half million dollars for services including the surveillance and arrest of Water Protectors resisting the company’s construction of a new Line 3 pipeline. This post situates the Enbridge-police agreement in Minnesota and violent crackdown against Water Protectors at Line 3 within a disturbing global context rooted in colonialism.

Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive Industry-Police Alliances
Main
Avery Kelly
CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to ...

In 2019, CAL partnered with EarthRights International to update their Guide to the Foreign Legal Assistance statute. Given that the US is an increasingly difficult jurisdiction for transnational human rights cases against companies, this tool provides an opportunity for workers and community members to access key evidence located in the US even where they may not have been able to bring suit there. 

CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to Foreign Legal Assistance Statute, Allowing Attorneys Suing Companies Access to Discovery Process in the US

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Sweet Deals, Sour Outcomes: How Speculation and Commoditization Affect Cocoa Farmers

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Sweet Deals, Sour Outcomes: How Speculation and Commoditization Affect Cocoa Farmers

The problem with the cocoa commodity price spike is not the increased price. Cocoa should be priced higher! But more of that value needs to go to the farmers who grow it. Outside of the commoditized market that supplies bulk quantities of cocoa to corporations such as Nestlé and Mondelez, alternative supply chain models already exist. Some smaller “premium” chocolate companies contract directly with farmers, paying up to $12,000 per metric ton of cocoa. They pay the premium price to ensure a supply of beans that are harvested by ethical, well-compensated laborers on an environmentally sustainable farm.

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So-called Sustainability programs are failing cocoa farmers and their families: How Nestlé and Mondelez greenwash – and labor wash – their chocolate products

So-called Sustainability programs are failing cocoa farmers and their families: How Nestlé and Mondelez greenwash – and labor wash – their chocolate products

The West African cocoa industry, where two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is grown, is notorious for its human rights abuses. From hazardous child labor to child trafficking to the poverty wages that farmers earn, little of the cocoa supply chain in West Africa is “fair” or “sustainable.” Yet over the past decade, certification schemes – such as Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade International, and Fairtrade USA – and so-called sustainability programs – like Mondelez’s Cocoa Life, Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan, Mars’ Cocoa for Generations, and Hershey’s Cocoa For Good – have proliferated.

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CAL Provides New Information to CBP on Child Trafficking and Forced Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector

CAL Provides New Information to CBP on Child Trafficking and Forced Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector

On February 14, 2023, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) submitted information to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under Section 307 of the Tariff Act documenting instances of forced child labor in the Ivorian cocoa industry. This petition comes exactly three years after we first provided CBP with information documenting child trafficking and forced labor on the Ivorian cocoa farms that source to chocolate brands in the United States.

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CAL and IRAdvocates Provide New Evidence of Forced Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector in Wake of Supreme Court Decision in Nestle v. Doe

CAL and IRAdvocates Provide New Evidence of Forced Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector in Wake of Supreme Court Decision in Nestle v. Doe

On June 24, 2021, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) and International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) submitted new evidence of forced child labor and trafficking in the Ivorian cocoa sector to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under Section 307 of the Tariff Act. This evidence was submitted as a supplement to a 307 petition we filed almost a year and a half ago, in February 2020. In both petitions we request that CBP issue a Withhold Release Order (WRO) to stop the importation of all cocoa and chocolate produced with forced child labor from Cote d’Ivoire.


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COCOBOD’s Unrealised Potential: Promoting Human Rights, Welfare, and the Environment in Ghana’s Cocoa-Growing Communities

COCOBOD’s Unrealised Potential: Promoting Human Rights, Welfare, and the Environment in Ghana’s Cocoa-Growing Communities

On June 17, 2021, Corporate Accountability Lab joined the University of Ghana School of Law, the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Center for International Human Rights, and SEND Ghana to launch the report, COCOBOD’s Unrealised Potential: Promoting Human Rights, Welfare, and the Environment in Ghana’s Cocoa-Growing Communities.

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Supreme Court Upholds Intolerable Status Quo in Nestlé USA v. Doe, Rejecting Claims of Trafficked Children

Supreme Court Upholds Intolerable Status Quo in Nestlé USA v. Doe, Rejecting Claims of Trafficked Children

On June 17, 2021, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in Nestlé USA v. Doe, a case brought on behalf of six Malian plaintiffs who had been trafficked and forced to work on cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire. The former forced child laborers allege that they had been tortured and enslaved. They further alleged that Nestlé USA and Cargill aided and abetted the harms against them by providing financial and technical support for exclusive purchasing rights to farms it knew or should have known exploited children.

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From Cote d’Ivoire to Chicago: The Impact of Covid-19 on Workers in the Chocolate Supply Chain

From Cote d’Ivoire to Chicago: The Impact of Covid-19 on Workers in the Chocolate Supply Chain

With Valentine’s Day upon us, we know that chocolate sales will increase. Hearts of chocolate wrapped in red will find their way into peoples’ homes, along with truffles and fancy bars. But as we celebrate yet another chocolate-focused holiday, it’s important to remember how chocolate is produced and who is making and selling it.

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Amicus Roundup: Eighteen Briefs Filed in Support of Child Trafficking Victims in Nestlé USA v. Doe I

Amicus Roundup: Eighteen Briefs Filed in Support of Child Trafficking Victims in Nestlé USA v. Doe I

On Wednesday, October 21, 2020, eighteen groups submitted amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in the Nestlé USA v. Doe I case in support of Respondents – a group of Malian plaintiffs who allege they were trafficked as children into Cote d’Ivoire and forced to work without pay on cocoa farms. The Supreme Court granted cert on the case on two questions: whether US corporations can be liable under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and whether US corporations can be liable for knowingly aiding and abetting crimes that occur outside the US from their US corporate headquarters.

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In 2020, Halloween Candy is (Still) Scary for People and the Planet 

In 2020, Halloween Candy is (Still) Scary for People and the Planet 

How, in 2020, can it be possible that nearly every piece of candy in a trick-or-treater’s bucket arrived there after a long journey that harmed both people and the planet? This post focuses on a few of the negative impacts associated with key ingredients in Halloween candy: cocoa (forced child labor; deforestation), sugar (forced displacement; forced labor; excessive water use), milk (climate change; abusive working conditions), and palm oil (deforestation; human rights abuses). We offer some considerations for conscious consumers to take into account while candy shopping, all the while recognizing that we as a community of global citizens are not going to be able to buy our way out of this scary reality.

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CAL Files Two Amicus Briefs in the Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I Case at the Supreme Court

CAL Files Two Amicus Briefs in the Nestlé USA, Inc. v. Doe I Case at the Supreme Court

On October 21, 2020, Corporate Accountability Lab filed two amicus briefs in support of Respondents in the upcoming Nestle v. Doe case, about corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS). Passed in 1789 by the First Congress, the ATS gives federal courts jurisdiction over tort claims, including for abuses of human rights brought by non-US citizens.

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CAL and IRAdvocates Challenge Importation of Cocoa Produced with Forced Child Labor

CAL and IRAdvocates Challenge Importation of Cocoa Produced with Forced Child Labor

The Ivorian cocoa industry, which produces over 30% of the world’s cocoa, is notoriously rife with child labor. For years companies such as Nestlé, Mars, Hershey, and Cargill have promised to make real changes and eliminate child labor in their supply chains. And yet, despite these promises, little has changed.

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The Scary Truth About Halloween Candy

The Scary Truth About Halloween Candy

It’s Nearly Impossible To Buy Chocolate You Can Feel Good About

A lot of you have been asking for our recommendations on what chocolate to buy this Halloween, given the fact that forced labor and environmental abuse are so rampant in the cocoa sector. We wish we had better news. 

The sad and hard truth is that there is very little chocolate that is truly sourced ethically (and don’t get me started on the labor and environmental issues related to sugar and palm oil production, both key ingredients in Halloween candy).

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Slave Labor: What Big Chocolate Doesn't Have to Tell You

Slave Labor: What Big Chocolate Doesn't Have to Tell You

No, Mars doesn’t have to tell you their chocolate was made using slave labor. But, can consumer protection laws be used to stop corporations from committing human rights abuses? Despite setbacks, over the past twenty years creative human and civil rights attorneys have had some success using consumer protection laws to compel corporate transparency related to supply chain labor exploitation.

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