---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 08:10:55 -0700
From: David Mozer <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: an WASAN <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [WASAN] FW: M&M/Mars Sign-on letter with List of Endorsers
Earlier this month WASAN signed on to a letter M&M/Mars about exploitation
of workers in the Cocoa industry. I thought you might want to see the list
of other organizations that endorsed the idea of fair trade chocolate
(scroll down to the end of the letter).
-----Original Message-----
Paul Michaels, President
M&M/Mars Inc.
6885 Elm St.
McLean, VA 22101
June 18, 2002
Dear Mr. Michaels,
We, the undersigned organizations, represent a diverse group of churches,
unions, student and consumer groups, environmental, public health and
economic justice organizations, and others who are concerned about the wages
and living conditions of cocoa farmers and workers. We are writing today to
urge you to purchase cocoa that is Fair Trade Certified. We believe that
Fair Trade certification is the best way for you to ensure that child
slavery and poverty are no longer facts of life on cocoa farms.
As you certainly know, several recent reports have revealed the existence of
child slave labor in the cocoa industry. The reemergence of child slavery
can be blamed, in part, on low prices in the cocoa industry over the last
ten years. At present, cocoa farmers receive about 1 cent for a regular
candy bar. As a result of insufficient revenues, cocoa growers have been
forced to cut their labor costs, and tragically many of them have turned to
using slave labor. While low cocoa prices mean lower raw materials costs and
hence more profit for M&M/Mars, for cocoa farmers and workers, the results
have been tragic.
Although slavery is the most prominent and egregious labor rights violation,
we join with the Child Labor Coalition, Free the Slaves, and the
International Union of Foodworkers in supporting the need to not only to
eliminate child slavery, but to ensure that all International Labor
Organization conventions are enforced, starting with Conventions 182 (the
worst forms of child labor) and 29 (forced labor).
We are aware that this past year M&M/Mars, along with other members of the
Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the World Cocoa Foundation, agreed
to take steps to eliminate child slavery and work toward enforcement of ILO
conventions by releasing a Protocol and Joint Statement. This is a positive
development. However, it does nothing to correct the low world cocoa prices
that are a root cause of exploitative labor practices. Solutions to the
current crisis must include ensuring that farmers are paid a fair price for
their harvest.
Surely, most of your customers would be outraged to learn that the sweetness
of their favorite chocolate is tainted with the bitterness of slavery and
worker exploitation.
Fortunately there is one solution available to the chocolate industry now
that would guarantee that its chocolate is produced fairly and without
exploitation: Fair Trade. The Fair Trade system corrects market imbalances
by guaranteeing a minimum price for small farmersı harvests and prohibits
the worst forms of child labor and forced labor. Your Protocol states that
³we also share the view that practices in violation of ILO Conventions 182
and 29 result from poverty and a complex set of social and economic
conditions often faced by small family farmers and agricultural workers, and
that effective solutions to address these violations must include action by
appropriate parties to improve overall labor standards and access to
education.² Only when cocoa producers are paid such a fair and stable income
will they be able to rise above poverty, experience permanent improvements
in overall labor standards, and have the resources to feed their families
and keep their children in school.
To find out how you can purchase cocoa that has been produced according to
Fair Trade criteria, contact TransFair USA at (510) 663.5260. TransFair USA
already certifies over 120 companies in the U.S. that market Fair Trade
coffee and tea, and has the capacity to certify chocolate companies such as
M&M/Mars.
Although Fair Trade Certified cocoa products are widely available in Europe,
no U.S. companies have yet taken advantage of this opportunity. Fair Trade
cooperatives produce cocoa in Ghana, Cameroon, Brazil, Nicaragua, Belize,
the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Last year, cooperatives in
these countries produced 89 million pounds of cocoa, yet only 3 million
pounds of it was sold at Fair Trade prices. Clearly there is sufficient
supply for expanding the Fair Trade cocoa market to companies that offer
quality chocolate products such as M&M/Mars. Fair Trade also specifies that
producers must be small farmers. Given that 90% of all cocoa worldwide is
produced by small farmers who own 12 acres or less, Fair Trade could
certainly be a reality for the majority of the worldıs cocoa producers, if
only companies like M&M/Mars would buy Fair Trade cocoa.
We believe that M&M/Mars, as a leader of the $13 billion chocolate industry,
has the responsibility to ensure that its principal product, chocolate, is
produced under fair labor conditions. It is clear that you have the
resources to do so, given that M&M/Mars is the 4th largest private company
in the U.S., controls almost 17% of the total U.S. chocolate market, and
garnered an estimated $15.5 billion in revenues last year.
Thus, we, the undersigned organizations, call on you to commit to purchasing
a minimum of at least five percent of your cocoa as Fair Trade Certified, to
be independently verified and monitored, according to international
standards, by TransFair USA.
Thank you for your consideration. We request that you reply promptly with a
specific plan introducing Fair Trade Certified chocolate. Until you agree to
offer a Fair Trade price for your cocoa, the sweetness of your chocolate
will be ruined because the cocoa producers - whose work is so central to
M&M/Marsı business - will continue to face bitter hardships.
No matter what the shade, make our M&M's Fair Trade.
Sincerely,
50 Years Is Enough! Network
AcadeMedia
Acadie Religious Community
ACT UP Philadelphia
Action for Community & Ecology in the Regions of Central America (ACERCA)
Action NOW!
Africa Action
Africa Alive
Africa Faith & Justice Network
Agricultural Missions, Inc (National Council of Churches of Christ in the
USA)
Aid Through Trade
Alabama Fair Trade Coalition
Alliance for Democracy, Santa Cruz, CA
Alliance for Responsible Trade
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs & the Environment
American Anti-Slavery Group
American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice
American Postal Workers Union, Miami Area, AFL-CIO
Amnesty International USA
Anti-Slavery International
Arise for Social Justice
Association of Concerned Africa Scholars
Bay Area Burma Roundtable
Bicycle for Everyone's Earth
Black Radical Congress
Border Agricultural Workers Center (Centro de los Trabajadores Agrícolas
Fronterizos)
Boreal Footprint Project
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Burma Project
California Fair Trade Campaign
California Fair Trade Coalition
California Peace Action
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
Call To Action
Campaign for Labor Rights
Campus Greens at UCSD
Campus Labor Action Coalition, University of California Santa Barbara
Casa Maria Catholic Worker
Catholic Migrant Farmworker Network
CAUSA (Oregon's Immigrant Rights Coalition)
Center for Economic Justice
Center for International Policy
Center for Reflection, Education & Action
Center for Third World Organizing
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America
Church of the Brethren
Church Women United
Citizen Works
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana
Coalition for a Humane Economy
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
Committee to Free Lori Berenson
Community Alliance for Global Justice
Congregation of St. Agnes
Consumers Against Food Engineering
Co-op America
Corporate Agribusiness Research Project
CorpWatch
Crafts Center
Daily Acts
Daughters of Mary and Joseph
Democratizing the Global Economy Project (American Friends Service
Committee)
Development Gap
Dominican Sisters of San Rafael
Duke University Student Action with Farmworkers
Earth Island Institute
Earth Ministry
Earth Rights Institute
Ecology Center
Ecumenical Program on Central America & the Caribbean
Edmonds Institute
Educate for Justice
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Équiterre
Fair Trade Federation
Fair Trade Resource Network
Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Seattle Area
Free the Planet
Free the Slaves
Fresno County Green Party
Friends of the Earth
Global Economy Working Group, Church Council of Greater Seattle
Global Exchange
Global Response
Grassroots Globalization Network
Grassroots International
Greater Kansas City Fair Trade Coalition
Green Party of San Francisco
Guatemala Human Rights Commission USA
Haiti Reborn
Hawai'i Sustainable Lifestyle Network
Heyyanka Foundation Courtemaiche
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC
Human Rights Action Service
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy
Inter Religious Task Force on Central America
Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center
Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility
Interhemispheric Resource Center
International Development Exchange
International Forum on Globalization
International Labor Rights Fund
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
JAMBO International Center
Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
Jobs with Justice, New York
JustAct
La Siembra Cooperative
Leicester Advocating Fair Trade
Los Angeles Leadership Academy
Marin Interfaith Task Force on Central America
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Maryland United for Peace and Justice
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Mexico Solidarity Network
Missionary Sisters - Our Lady of Africa
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
National Campus Greens
National Family Farm Coalition
National Labor Committee
Native Forest Network
New England Guatemalan Alliance
New York State Labor-Religion Coalition
Nicaragua Center for Community Action
Nicaragua Network
Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office
Office of Religious Life, Mount Holyoke College
Organic Consumers Association
Our Developing World
Oxfam America
Pax Christi- Michigan
Pax Christi- St Gabriel
Pax Christi- St. Louis University
Pax Christi USA
PCUN/Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United
PeaceWorks
Peninsula Peace and Justice Center
Pennsylvania Fair Trade Coalition
Pennsylvania State University Eco-action
Pesticide Action Network North America
Power Shift
Progressive Jewish Alliance
Project Concern International
Public Citizenıs Global Trade Watch
Rainbow Churches and Beehive School
Rainforest Action Network
Resource Center for Non-Violence
Resource Center of the Americas
Rights Action
Ruch Solidarnosci z Ubogimi Trzeciego Swiata (The Movement of Solidarity
with the Poor of the Third World)
Ruckus Society
RUGMARK Foundation USA
Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
Rural Training Research Center (Federation of Southern Cooperatives)
Sacramentans for International Labor Rights
Sacramento Activists for Democratic Trade
Sacred Heart OFM Province Peace and Justice
San Jose Peace Center
Santa Clara County Green Party
Santa Clarans for Fair Trade
Save the Children Canada
Save the Redwoods & Boycott the Gap Campaign
Seattle Burma Roundtable
Sexto Sol Center for Community Action
Sinitesa Foundation
Sisters of Charity, BVM, The Women's Office
Sisters of the Holy Names Justice & Peace Committee
Society of African Missions, Office of Justice and Peace
Society of Missionaries of Africa, North American Province, Justice and
Peace Office
Society of St. Ursula
Songbird Foundation
South (Alameda) County Peace & Justice Coalition
Southern California Fair Trade Network
StanFair: Stanford Students for Fair Trade
Student Action with Farmworkers
Student Coalition for Global Solidarity
Students Transforming and Resisting Corporations
Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network
Texas Fair Trade Coalition
Tikkun Magazine
TransAfrica Forum
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Eau Claire, WI
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America
United Farm Workers Washington State
United for a Fair Economy
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
United Steelworkers of America Local 1227
Vassar College Amnesty International
Vassar College Student Activist Union
Washington Office on Africa
Washington Peace Center
Washington State Africa Network
West Africa Rainforest Network
Western Massachusetts Global Action Coalition
Western Michigan University Peace Center
Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign
Witness for Peace South East Region
Witness for Peace Southwest
Womenıs EDGE
Womenıs International League for Peace and Freedom, US Section
World Neighbors
Youth for Environmental Sanity
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Next WASAN meeting is Wednesday, June 26, 2002. Location: Safeco Jackson Street Center, E Main between 23 & 24, Suite 200, Seattle
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