ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

International Rights Advocates (IRA) filed a complaint alleging that Nestle made false and deceptive representations to consumers concerning its child labour practices. The representations are said to infringe the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedure Act (CPPA), and include that Nestlé has “zero tolerance to child labor, forced labor and modern slavery” and is “committed to preventing and eliminating child labour wherever it occurs in (its) supply chain”.

The complaint centres on the cocoa farming industry. According to the complaint, that industry has a history of child slavery where children perform hazardous tasks, such as burning fields, spraying pesticides, and transporting heavy loads. Nestlé allegedly sources 60% of its cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. According to a report by the National Opinion Research Center, about 1.48 million child labourers were engaged in hazardous labour in those countries during the 2018-19 growing season.

The representations highlighted by IRA include the Nestlé Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements. The requirements are that no child aged fifteen or below is employed; children aged thirteen or over can perform only light work where permitted by local law; and no child carries out hazardous work. In its Human Rights Framework and Roadmap, Nestlé states that through its Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation Systems, the company “act[s] as soon as children at risk are detected”.

IRA’s complaint goes on to note that in 2009, Nestlé committed to a Cocoa Plan, and claimed that it would work with the International Cocoa Initiative and the World Cocoa Foundation to tackle child labour. IRA exhibits images of Nestlé products bearing slogans such as “Responsibly sourced cocoa” and “Better Farming, Better Lives, Better Cocoa”.

Nestlé’s representations are alleged by IRA to be false and misleading to consumers. As evidence of this, IRA placed reliance on an investigation conducted by it in Ghana in collaboration with a whistleblower who worked for Touton SA, one of Nestlé’s buying agents. IRA claims that at every plantation it visited, Nestlé used child labour as the majority of its workforce. The children are said to have been working with dangerous chemicals and machetes.

IRA argues that Nestlé’s cocoa plan is ineffective for failing to address the root cause of child labour. In support of this, IRA cites independent audits in 2014–2017 by the Fair Labor Association, purportedly revealing that the worst forms of child labour continue to take place on the farms that are subject to Nestlé’s Child Labor Monitoring & Remediation Systems.

Taken together, IRA argues that these factors demonstrate that Nestlé is not committed to eradicating child labour from its supply chain. By way of relief, it seeks not damages, but a declaration that Nestlé’s conduct is in violation of the CPPA, and an injunction preventing that conduct.