Tea and chocolate that are being sold as ‘Fairtrade’ are often produced by forced labour

Ethical tea and chocolate sold as ‘Fairtrade’ or ‘Rainforest Certified’ in the UK is often produced by forced labour, according to a study.

Shoppers paying for the ethical stamp that shows their tea or chocolate has been grown in decent conditions are being ‘cheated’, it is claimed.

One of the biggest tea producers – Tetley – has since 2010 marketed its tea as ‘Rainforest Alliance Certified’ – grown and harvested on farms and forests that follow sustainable practices. 

Another tea giant, Twinings tea is sold as ‘ETP’ – certified by the ‘Ethical Tea Partnership’.

But the Sheffield University report, which took two years to compile said they could see no difference between tea that came from ‘ethically certified plantations’ such as these and those without such ethical stamps of approval. 

Ethical tea and chocolate sold as ‘Fairtrade’ or ‘Rainforest Certified’ in the UK is often produced by forced labour, according to a study

Tea workers in Assam in India are meant to be paid a minimum wage of £1.50 [corr] a day and £2.50 in Kerala – but in practice are paid much less at both ‘ethical’ and regular plantations.

Workers are expected to meet quotas of picking up to 30kg of tea a day – and their wages are deducted if they get less.

The researchers carried out in-depth interviews with 120 tea and cocoa workers and surveyed 1,000 tea and cocoa workers from 22 tea plantations in India and 74 cocoa producing areas in Ghana, as well as 100 interviews with government officials and businessmen.

‘Some of the worst cases of exploitation documented within our research occurred on ethically certified plantations,’ the report said.

The report found workers in both ‘ethical’ and ordinary farms – were threatened with sexual and physical violence, verbally abused and had unfair deductions taken from their wages.

In the case of cocoa production in Ghana, workers who wanted jobs were expected to work for several months for free on farm managers own land before getting a job.

To gather evidence, researchers visited tea and cocoa plantations in India and Ghana.

They found that pickers were ‘paid severely low wages and are routinely subjected to multiple forms of exploitation.’

The study included tea plantations certified by Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Ethical Trade Partnership, and Trustea, and cocoa producers who are members of the Fairtrade and UTZ certified co-operative, Kuapa Kokoo.

But the certification schemes are easy to ‘cheat’ the report said – with inspectors visiting just once a year.

Professor Genevieve LeBaron, Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield, led the project.

Pictured: West Ghana workers harvested cocoa beans by extracting them their pods and wrapping the beans in banana leaves before drying them

Pictured: West Ghana workers harvested cocoa beans by extracting them their pods and wrapping the beans in banana leaves before drying them

She said: ‘Tea and cocoa products are staple household items made and sold by some of the world’s largest brands. But at the base of the global supply chains that put these products on our shelves are highly exploited tea and cocoa workers who are routinely subjected to abuse and living far below the poverty line.

‘The prevalence of forced labour in tea and cocoa supply chains should be a wake-up call for government, industry and auditors.’

The study found: tea workers’ wages in India are as low as 25 per cent of the poverty line amount; 40 per cent of tea workers within the study have had unfair deductions made from their wages; 47 per cent of tea workers within the study do not have access to water that is safe to drink; 23 per cent of cocoa workers within the study have performed work they were not paid for.

In response to the study, Fairtrade – which allows companies to use its logo if they guarantee farmers a fair price for crops and an extra premium to spend on community projects – said it could investigate further to ensure the safety of its workers.

‘Fairtrade takes these allegations of unacceptable conditions at certified estates in Assam and Kerala very seriously,’ a spokesman said in a statement.

Rainforest Alliance said it was ‘very concerned’ by the data and committed to improving conditions on tea plantations.

‘We agree that more needs to be done to improve tea workers lives and we know that certification is only one way of raising standards, which is why our main remit is to work on social impact projects,’ a spokesman for the ETP said in a statement.

Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and the ETP all said they had requested details about the estates surveyed by the university researchers, which would allow them to identify individual plantations and address any complaints of workplace abuses.

Trustea did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Major tea companies such as Tata Global Beverages – which owns Tetley – and Twinings – owned by Associated British Foods – said certification schemes were just one part of their efforts to ensure workers in India are treated fairly.

Keith Writer, supply director for the British tea firm Bettys and Taylors told Reuters: ‘Assam is one of the most challenged areas we buy from and we’re sadly all too aware of the wide spectrum of social issues it faces ‘All the teas we buy are Rainforest Alliance certified, but we recognise that it’s not a perfect system.’ 



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