Rights Group to Pressure M&M on Trade March 28, 2002

By Carole Vaporean

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Non-profit organization Global Exchange plans to begin a campaign this weekend intended to pressure privately held chocolate manufacturer M&M/Mars to use so-called "fair trade certified" cocoa beans, a spokesman for the human rights organization said on Thursday.

Declaring that cocoa farmers in West African states receive inadequate pay for their crop and that slave laborers are used to pick and process the beans, Global Exchange said it is attempting to put a stop to those practices.

The group began targeting chocolate manufacturers for unfair trade practices late last year, but this is the first time it will aim its efforts directly at M&M.

The group is focusing on the chocolate industry as a whole, but picking out different companies at each holiday. It began its campaign on Valentine's Day.

While not accusing M&M directly of slave trade, the group is demanding that the chocolate-maker take more of a leadership role in demanding only cocoa beans that carry a certificate of fair trade from its West African suppliers.

Michelle Weese, spokeswoman for M&M/Mars, said she thinks the chocolate maker is "on the same page" as Global Exchange and was somewhat perplexed at why M&M was being targeted.

"Organizations involved in promoting fair trade, we share their interest in improving the economic conditions of cocoa farmers. We all have the same interest," Weese said.

"Any kind of child-trafficking or abusive labor practices in growing cocoa are simply unacceptable to us. We strongly condemn these practices wherever they occur," she added.

On December 1, the world's top chocolate makers and cocoa merchants announced that they had joined leading anti-slavery and other groups in signing a statement against child labor abuses in the production of West African cocoa.

INDUSTRY EFFORTS

The joint statement is the third in a seven-step industry protocol developed last September that is scheduled to be completed by July 2005.

"We are working with the industry and we have undertaken a global effort to put together a comprehensive protocol that lays out a timetable to determine the extent of the problem and to establish a system that ensures that cocoa's grown without abusive child labor or forced labor practices," she said.

The industry has also set up a Broad Consultative Group to advise in suggesting remedies for the elimination of the worst forms of child and forced labor in the growing and processing of cocoa beans.

Global Exchange thinks elimination of child slavery on cocoa farms should happen sooner. It proposes that chocolate manufacturers start immediately by importing five percent of their cocoa supply using fair trade certified beans, and ramp up gradually to 100 percent to send a strong message to slave traders in Africa, the spokesman said.

This weekend local chapters throughout the United States will go to local movie theaters in what Global Exchange calls an education campaign for urgency about the dire labor conditions in West Africa. Activists will be asking people to fax, call, write or e-mail M&M in Hackettstown, New Jersey to tell the company they want the chocolate manufacturer to purchase cocoa from growers or producers who employ fair trade practices.

"This is the first major pressure put on M&M/Mars, the first organized, nationwide effort. Why M&M? Because they're an industry leader," he said.

NO GUARANTEE

"U.S. consumers have no guarantee that the chocolate they are eating is untainted, and we're saying these companies need to come up with a better system of making a commitment to fair trade," the spokesman said.

Global Exchange's education effort coincides with Easter weekend, one of the top chocolate sales weeks of the year.

"We had already planned something for this weekend, because it's a major chocolate holiday, But, when we came across M&M's balloting gimmick around the (M&M) colors, we thought that would be a great way to talk to people about the issue," the spokesman said.

In a marketing campaign scheduled to last until the end of May, M&M is asking consumers worldwide to vote for their favorite new M&M color on its Web site (http://gcv.mms.com) or by sending or faxing their choice.

Part of Global Exchange's plan this weekend is to have consumers choose "fair trade certified" as their preferred color, and ask M&M to offer fair trade chocolate.

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Fair Trade Advocates Target M&M/Mars; Rally Sched. Sat --

By Enza Tedesco

New York, March 27 (OsterDowJones) - International human rights organization Global Exchange will target U.S.-based chocolate manufacturer M&M/Mars during a rally Saturday, calling on the company to start paying fair prices to cocoa growers in West Africa.

Fair-trade activists will gather in dozens of cities across the country outside movie theaters urging moviegoers to vote "Fair Trade" in postcards, in which the chocolate manufacturer is asking consumers to help pick a new color for its bite-sized candies.

In a press release, Deborah James, the Fair Trade Director at Global Exchange, said that thousands of cocoa farmers are struggling to survive due to the low prices they're receiving for their cocoa.

Fair-trade cocoa guarantees that cooperatives of poor farmers are paid a fair price for their harvests, "allowing them to provide a dignified quality of life for their families," the release said.

"While the global price for cocoa hovers around 40 cents per pound, the Fair-trade system guarantees farmers approximately 80 cents per pound," the statement said.

M&M/Mars Share Trade Fair View

Later Wednesday, Liliana Esposito, a spokeswoman for M&M/Mars, said that the firm shares the same goals as the organizations that are involved in promoting fair trade, and that M&M/Mars is currently involved in several projects to improve the economic conditions of cocoa farmers.

"Fair trade is an approach that's going to work best on farms that have access that infrastructure, such as communications and warehouse facilities," she said. "Certainly, the long-term goal is encouraging further development of farmer organization, but right now the majority of farmers of West Africa simply don't have access to that level of infrastructure ... and right now, without that infrastructure, fair trade is not likely to be a feasible option."

Esposito made reference to the combined effort from the chocolate industry concerning abusive child labor issues that have recently surfaced in West Africa, as well as the sustainability project of the cocoa crop.

On the latter, "we refer to (improve) the economic conditions, social conditions and the environmental conditions under which cocoa is grown," she noted.