List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that adults are forced to work in the production of cobalt ore in some mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Conditions of forced labor are prevalent among workers who mine cobalt in the Copperbelt region, particularly in Haut-Katanga and Lualaba. Reports from CSOs, field research, and other sources indicate the existence of the following forced labor indicators in the cobalt industry: inability to refuse hazardous work, abusive overtime requirements, denial of rights or threats of dismissal, and withholding of wages or other promised benefits. Some cobalt workers are forced to work in improperly reinforced tunnels that are at risk of collapsing, with poor ventilation and little protective equipment. In addition, it is widely reported that cobalt workers can be vulnerable to forced labor due to the lack of alternative livelihoods, and there are reports that workers face threats of dismissal for complaining about labor conditions. Further, some cobalt workers have informal financial relationships with intermediaries or sponsors, and in some cases these dynamics create vulnerability to wage manipulation, debt bondage, or other abuses. The availability of this research demonstrates the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the production of cobalt.

French Translation

There are reports that children ages 5 to 17 cultivate coffee in Costa Rica. Based on an analysis by international organizations of the Government of Costa Rica’s National Household Survey (ENAHO) 2011, published in 2015, 8.8 percent of child laborers in the country, or approximately 1,422 children ages 5-14, were in child labor in coffee production in Costa Rica. The ENAHO 2011 counts as child labor all work performed by a child below age 15. In addition, the analysis indicates that 5.2 percent of working adolescents ages 15 to 17, or 1,625 adolescents, were also engaged in coffee production. The analysis noted that 78 percent of children and adolescents in child labor in Costa Rica work with their families. Although more recent national surveys have shown a 65 percent decrease in the number of children ages 12 to 17 working in agriculture from 13,866 in 2011 to 4,853 in 2015, these surveys do not provide the number of children in child labor in the coffee sector. Data from the 2016 ENAHO, which included a child labor module, is expected to be released in early 2017. 

Spanish Translation

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the  most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

There are reports that children ages 14-17 and younger in Côte d'Ivoire are forced to work on coffee plantations. Based on a research study, thousands of children are involved in this type of labor. Some children are forcibly recruited, or recruited through deceptive means, and transported to coffee plantations in Côte d'Ivoire from nearby countries including Benin, Mali, Togo, and Burkina Faso. These children are sold to traffickers. Other children leave their home countries or communities voluntarily, but end up in situations where they are not paid and have no means to return home. Some children are forced to work for three or four years before receiving payment or returning home. Others are forced to work, even if sick, and prevented from leaving the plantations through threat of physical violence, withheld payments, or denial of food. 

French Translation

There are reports that children from within Côte d'Ivoire, as well as migrant children from Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo, are working under conditions of forced labor on Ivoirian cocoa farms. Based on the most recently available estimate from Tulane University, over 4,000 children work in conditions of forced labor in the production of cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire. Some children are sold by their parents to traffickers, some are kidnapped, and others migrate willingly but fall victim to traffickers who sell them to recruiters or farmers, where they end up in conditions of bonded labor. Some farmers buy the children and refuse to let them leave the farm until the debt of their purchase has been worked off. The children are frequently not paid for their work; some of their wages are paid to the recruiter or trafficker. These children are held against their will on isolated farms, are locked in their living quarters at night, and are threatened and beaten if they attempt to escape. They are punished by their employers with physical abuse. They are forced to work long hours, including overtime, and are required to work even when they are sick. Some children are denied sufficient food by their traffickers and employers. Some children are forced to perform dangerous tasks, including carrying heavy loads, using machetes and sharp tools, and applying pesticides and fertilizers. 

French Translation

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

ILAB has reason to believe that raw sugar, refined sugar, molasses, rum, bagasse, and furfural produced in the Dominican Republic (DR) are produced with an input produced with forced labor, specifically sugarcane produced in the DR. Sugarcane from the DR produced with forced labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Numerous reports indicate the widespread presence of forced labor throughout the sugarcane sector of the DR, including in plantations owned by private companies, state-owned entities, and small independent producers (colonos). Sugarcane workers in the DR, particularly workers of Haitian origin or descent, work and live under conditions of forced labor. Sugarcane is used to produce a number of sugar-based products in the DR. The U.S. imports nearly all the raw sugar and the majority of the molasses exported from the DR, while the EU imports all of the produced furfural. In 2023, the U.S. imported over $131 million in raw sugar from the DR. Research suggests that further downstream products of sugarcane, such as beverages, alcoholic beverages, candy, baked goods, processed food products, animal feed, paper, pulp, construction materials, biofuels, industrial chemicals, medicines, and medicinal alcohol may be produced with an input produced with forced labor.

Spanish Translation