{"id":20757,"date":"2021-05-25T20:12:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T20:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/?p=20757"},"modified":"2021-05-28T11:04:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T11:04:24","slug":"dear-eu-commission-a-letter-from-tonys-chocolonely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/dear-eu-commission-a-letter-from-tonys-chocolonely\/","title":{"rendered":"DEAR EU COMMISSION – A LETTER FROM TONY’S CHOCOLONELY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, we’ve covered a lot of information about Environmental and Sustainability issues, referencing the EU’s proposed legislation<\/a> and the lobbying from certain chocolate companies (e.g., Cargill).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we are going to press (ok we’re a digital platform, but it represents an 11th-hour metaphor) Tony’s Chocolonely publishes an open letter, and it’s too good to miss. We’re publishing the full press release below because it doesn’t need any explanation from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press release can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Letter From Tony’s Chocolonely<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hey, remember our petition<\/a> to make 100% slave free chocolate the law? Then you probably remember how excited we were when the EU took one step closer with the Lara Wolters report \u2013 and Parliament voted YES to making companies accountable for human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains. In fact, we\u2019re still jumping up and down.. only this time it\u2019s to get our due diligence demands heard as the Commission gets ready to propose new EU legislation for corporate due diligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exciting! But, eh.. due dilly whatteh?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Corporate accountability and human rights due diligence is quite a mouthful. But it\u2019s essentially just a formal way of saying that businesses must be responsible for checking and resolving any social and environmental injustices that happen during the sourcing and manufacturing of their products. In the chocolate industry, that would mean taking 100% responsibility for tackling things like illegal child labor, modern slavery and deforestation. Which is why \u2013 together with more than 65,000 Choco Fans who signed our petition \u2013 we fully backed the report calling for this to be made law. The EU Commission is now drafting a proposal that will oblige companies that operate in the European market to screen their entire\u202fsupply chain for abuses \u2013 and take measures to prevent or solve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s Tony\u2019s take on the new EU legislation?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of course, we can\u2019t lay down the law ourselves \u2013 but we have put down on paper the things we believe that law should include to guarantee businesses adhere to human rights standards. We shared our formal wish list with the powers that be; here, we spell it out in simple human speak:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Size doesn\u2019t matter<\/strong>
Big or small, all companies must be bound by law. Especially in high-risk sectors such as cocoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. A basic standard of living is a human right<\/strong>
Human rights violations must include more than illegal child labor and modern slavery. The way companies purchase should enable farmers to earn a living income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Accountability demands transparency<\/strong>
All companies must use a clear, understandable and publicly accessible reporting framework that includes mandatory checks on key human rights and environmental issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Justice must be served<\/strong>
All EU member states must take legal action when companies do not fulfil their due diligence obligations. And victims of human rights violations must be guaranteed easy access to justice in EU courts, and remedies when harm has been caused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


How is Tony\u2019s getting ready for the new law?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting ready? We got set and go\u2019d years ago! You know us, we like to lead by example and show that if we can do it, every choco maker can. And the proof is in the choco pudding: setting up policies and practices that reflect the 6 Steps in Due Diligence<\/strong><\/a>, which are based on the United Nations Guiding Principles. Like our 5 Sourcing Principles<\/strong><\/a> knowing for example where every single one of our beans comes from, and the conditions under which they are farmed, because 100% traceability <\/strong><\/a>is an enabler for 100% responsibility. And having a child labor monitoring and remediation systems (CLMRS<\/a>) in place so we can raise awareness of children\u2019s rights and resolve any issues if they crop up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What will the new law mean for Choco Fans?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So glad you asked! If the new due diligence law goes our way, all choco makers would be accountable for putting systems in place to monitor and remediate human rights violations in their supply chains \u2013 as well as paying a price for cocoa that enables farmers to earn a living income. And that would mean you should be able to pick up any bar of chocolate in an EU supermarket (not just from Tony\u2019s or our Open Chain mission allies) and enjoy it without worrying it might be hiding a bitter truth. In fact, this would be true for all products we consume.

Only together we\u2019ll make 100% slave free the norm!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we’ve covered a lot of information about Environmental and Sustainability issues, referencing the EU’s proposed legislation and the lobbying from certain chocolate companies (e.g., Cargill). As we are going to press (ok we’re a digital platform, but it represents an 11th-hour metaphor) Tony’s Chocolonely publishes an open letter, and it’s too good to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":20761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1835,1701,1831],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bartalks.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}