List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor

There are reports that adults are forced to produce caustic soda in China. Caustic soda has a wide variety of uses in industrial processes, including as an input to cleaning products and refining in mining activities. Research indicates that Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are frequently subjected to forced labor as a result of state-sponsored labor transfer programs. Workers, often from poor rural areas, have been placed in factories in industrial areas within the XUAR, and have also been transferred to factories in other parts of China. China is the world’s largest producer of caustic soda, and approximately 16% of China’s production is based in Xinjiang. Caustic soda manufacturers work with the Chinese government to make use of ethnic minority groups for exploitative labor, often receiving financial incentives. Academic researchers, media, and think tanks report that companies and government entities frequently engage in coercive recruitment, limit workers’ freedom of movement and communication, and subjected workers to constant surveillance, religious retribution, exclusion from community and social life, physical violence, and threats to family members.

Chinese Translation

There is evidence that children ages 5 to 17 are engaged in the production of cereal grains in El Salvador. According to the Government of El Salvador’s Multi-Purpose Household Survey of 2015, a working child is considered to be engaged in hazardous child labor if the child is performing work that is hazardous according to national legislation. The survey estimates that 123,259 children ages 5 to 17 perform hazardous child labor in El Salvador, including using dangerous tools, carrying heavy loads, working with chemicals, working long or night shifts, and being exposed to dust, smoke, or extreme heat or humidity. Approximately 40,675 of these children in hazardous child labor are engaged in the production of cereal grains. The release of this survey demonstrates the Government of El Salvador’s commitment to addressing child labor and its acknowledgement that data collection is vital to the design and implementation of sound policies and programs. 

Spanish Translation

There are reports that men and women are forced to work in the production of chile peppers in Mexico. According to media reports, NGOs, and the U.S. Department of State, there are hundreds of forced labor victims working to produce chile peppers. Many of these victims report being recruited by middlemen, called enganchadores, that lie to workers about the nature and conditions of the work, wages, hours, and quality of living conditions. Sources report that cases of forced labor in chile peppers production predominantly occurs in small and medium holder farms and have been found in states such as Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, and San Luis Potosi. According to available reports, indigenous farmworkers from impoverished regions of central and southern Mexico are particularly vulnerable to forced labor in the agricultural sector due to low education levels, linguistic barriers, and discrimination. Once on the farms, some men and women work up to 15 hours per day under the threat of dismissal and receive subminimum wage payments or no payment at all. There are reports of some workers being threatened with physical violence or physically abused for leaving their jobs. Workers also report finding themselves in overcrowded and unsanitary housing facilities with no access to potable water, latrines, electricity, and medical care. Some workers face growing indebtedness to company stores that often inflate the prices of their goods, forcing workers to purchase provisions on credit and limiting their ability to leave the farms. 

Spanish Translation

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Côte d’Ivoire are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Côte d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire produced with child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 41%, meaning about 790,000 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. These cocoa-growing households produce the vast majority Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Côte d’Ivoire are at high risk of having an input produced with child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 39% of its cocoa beans, 62% of its cocoa paste, 33% of its cocoa butter, and 31% of its cocoa powder from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of continued research demonstrates the Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products made in Ghana are produced with an input made with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Ghana. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Ghana produced with child labor was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009. Based on the most recently available estimate from NORC at the University of Chicago, the prevalence rate of child labor in cocoa production among cocoa growing households is 55%, meaning an estimated 765,754 children work in child labor in cocoa production in Ghana. These cocoa growing households produce the vast majority of Ghana’s cocoa beans. Thus, products that rely heavily on cocoa beans originating from Ghana are at risk of having an input produced with child labor. The availability of this research demonstrates the Government of Ghana’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Ghana’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.

ILAB has reason to believe that multiple cocoa and chocolate products produced in the Netherlands are produced with an input produced with child labor, specifically from cocoa beans produced in Ghana and Côte
d’Ivoire. These products include cocoa paste, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate. Cocoa from Ghana was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009 for child labor. Cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire was added to ILAB’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in 2009 for child labor, forced labor, and forced child labor. In 2022, the Netherlands imported 10.72% of its cocoa beans from Ghana and 39% from Côte d’Ivoire; 27.4% of its cocoa paste from Ghana and 62% from Côte d’Ivoire; 27.96% of its cocoa butter from Ghana and 33% from Côte d’Ivoire; and 29.47% of its cocoa powder from Ghana and 31% from Côte d’Ivoire, using these inputs to produce cocoa and chocolate products. The availability of this research demonstrates the Government of Ghana’s and Government of Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to addressing labor abuses in the cocoa industry. The Netherlands has also undertaken a number of initiatives aimed at eradicating child labor from the cocoa sector. Nonetheless, the use of child labor in Ghana’s and Côte d’Ivoire’s production of cocoa beans remains a significant challenge.