| Cargill and ADM: Keepers of the Right to Child Labor? |
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| Written by Erika Fredrickson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 10 April 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Activist groups have accused agricultural corporation giants Cargill and Arthur Daniels Midland (ADM) of “aggressively” lobbying against an anti-child labor provision in the Farm Bill. Cargill and ADM aren't commenting but it looks as if the companies are trying to drop section 31104 called “Voluntary Certification of Child Labor Status of Agricultural Imports,” which would provide a method for certifying that products are free of child and forced labor. I wish I could be surprised, but the fact is, ADM and Cargill don't have the best track record in this area. Both companies like to promote their so-called sustainability practices including their support of cocoa farming communities that have “legally and socially acceptable practices” (from the ADM web site). But trying to drop a child and slavery section doesn't give them much credit. The Department of Labor is currently compiling a list of imported goods thought to be produced by forced labor or child labor (both of which have another name: slavery) and these conditions violate international standards. Seventy percent of the world’s child labor is in agriculture. Source: Food USA, Common Dreams News Center
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