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Still Bound By The Shackles of Slavery
Mediacorp Press, Singapore (Todayonline.com)
Venessa Lee
venessa@mediacorp.com.sg
page 2 of 2
WAITER, THERE'S A SLAVE IN MY COFFEE
.
But perhaps the most chilling aspect of modern slavery is the extent to which the global economy and
unwary consumers have come to rely on this illegal system — in much the same way the prosperity of
European colonial nations or America was once fed by enslaved labour.
.
These days, activists claim, slavery is the dark side of China's economic miracle. Vicious labour
practices are reportedly supported by officials.
.
According to Dr Bales, many of our basic commodities are tainted with slave labour. In Brazil, slaves cut
down forests and burn the wood to make charcoal to produce steel, a million tonnes of which are
imported by the European Union each year.
.
Documented cases of slavery have been uncovered in the production of sugar, beef, tomatoes, coffee,
rice, shoes, cocoa and tin, Dr Bales wrote in the FT. Fashion, food and sports retailers are those whose
products are most likely to contain an element of slave labour, reported The Guardian.
.
Britain — like other wealthy nations — has many companies that rely on slave labour, revealed a recent
study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and
Emancipation at the University of Hull. However, the report added: "This involvement is often obscured
by complex subcontracting and supply chains, managed by agents."
.
It is not so easy to distinguish slavery-tainted products the way, say, one can label cosmetics that are
animal-testing free or energy-saving refrigerators that are CFC-free.
.
How the market is structured makes it difficult for both businesses and consumers to determine if slave
labour went into the goods. For example, about half of the world's cocoa is grown on small farms in the
Ivory Coast, many of which use slaves. But this link is obscured along the supply chain.
.
The reason: European and American companies are not allowed to buy directly from African farmers;
the supply filters through a series of middlemen. As writer Mohau Pheko put it in South Africa's Sunday
Times: "If you are a buyer for a sweet-maker, you don't say: 'I'd like to buy five tonnes of Ghanaian
cocoa,' you just say you want five tonnes of cocoa."
.
The problem is a complex one to unravel. But the picture is not entirely gloomy. Corporations, NGOs and
governments have been making efforts to curb slave labour.
.
The cocoa industry, for instance, has made some strides. In 2001, Western chocolate manufacturers,
rights groups and trade unions signed the Cocoa Protocol, which now includes systems to inspect and
certify the cocoa at source, as well as programmes to rescue slaves and educate farmers.
.
Other initiatives such as Fairtrade in Britain also strive to ensure those at the bottom of the supply chain
receive a fair price for their labour.
.
In another apparent example of corporations initiating change for the better, Starbucks on Wednesday
announced a deal with Ethiopia that could see its farmers getting a fair share of the profits for their world-
renowned coffees.
.
But there is a long way to go to break the chains of modern slavery. It will first require bringing that which
is hidden out into the open. As Professor Gary Craig, co-author of a British study on slavery, told The
Guardian: "So many people say, 'Come on, slavery was then, and this is now. It can't possibly happen.'
.
"But it does, and on a large scale."
--------
Venessa Lee
venessa@mediacorp.com.sg
<< Previous 1 2
Mediacorp Press, Singapore (Todayonline.com)
Venessa Lee
venessa@mediacorp.com.sg
page 2 of 2
WAITER, THERE'S A SLAVE IN MY COFFEE
.
But perhaps the most chilling aspect of modern slavery is the extent to which the global economy and
unwary consumers have come to rely on this illegal system — in much the same way the prosperity of
European colonial nations or America was once fed by enslaved labour.
.
These days, activists claim, slavery is the dark side of China's economic miracle. Vicious labour
practices are reportedly supported by officials.
.
According to Dr Bales, many of our basic commodities are tainted with slave labour. In Brazil, slaves cut
down forests and burn the wood to make charcoal to produce steel, a million tonnes of which are
imported by the European Union each year.
.
Documented cases of slavery have been uncovered in the production of sugar, beef, tomatoes, coffee,
rice, shoes, cocoa and tin, Dr Bales wrote in the FT. Fashion, food and sports retailers are those whose
products are most likely to contain an element of slave labour, reported The Guardian.
.
Britain — like other wealthy nations — has many companies that rely on slave labour, revealed a recent
study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and
Emancipation at the University of Hull. However, the report added: "This involvement is often obscured
by complex subcontracting and supply chains, managed by agents."
.
It is not so easy to distinguish slavery-tainted products the way, say, one can label cosmetics that are
animal-testing free or energy-saving refrigerators that are CFC-free.
.
How the market is structured makes it difficult for both businesses and consumers to determine if slave
labour went into the goods. For example, about half of the world's cocoa is grown on small farms in the
Ivory Coast, many of which use slaves. But this link is obscured along the supply chain.
.
The reason: European and American companies are not allowed to buy directly from African farmers;
the supply filters through a series of middlemen. As writer Mohau Pheko put it in South Africa's Sunday
Times: "If you are a buyer for a sweet-maker, you don't say: 'I'd like to buy five tonnes of Ghanaian
cocoa,' you just say you want five tonnes of cocoa."
.
The problem is a complex one to unravel. But the picture is not entirely gloomy. Corporations, NGOs and
governments have been making efforts to curb slave labour.
.
The cocoa industry, for instance, has made some strides. In 2001, Western chocolate manufacturers,
rights groups and trade unions signed the Cocoa Protocol, which now includes systems to inspect and
certify the cocoa at source, as well as programmes to rescue slaves and educate farmers.
.
Other initiatives such as Fairtrade in Britain also strive to ensure those at the bottom of the supply chain
receive a fair price for their labour.
.
In another apparent example of corporations initiating change for the better, Starbucks on Wednesday
announced a deal with Ethiopia that could see its farmers getting a fair share of the profits for their world-
renowned coffees.
.
But there is a long way to go to break the chains of modern slavery. It will first require bringing that which
is hidden out into the open. As Professor Gary Craig, co-author of a British study on slavery, told The
Guardian: "So many people say, 'Come on, slavery was then, and this is now. It can't possibly happen.'
.
"But it does, and on a large scale."
--------
Venessa Lee
venessa@mediacorp.com.sg
<< Previous 1 2