Independent Verification
From the start of its work, the chocolate and cocoa industry understood that the certification process would only be effective if it can be trusted. Success depends upon transparency and credibility.
That is why the certification process for cocoa farming includes independent verification. A robust verification component will ensure that the information contained in each country’s cocoa certification reports is accurate, providing an honest assessment of labor conditions on the ground. It will also ensure the credibility of any certification efforts to track the effectiveness of programs to tackle labor issues.
In 2007, the chocolate and cocoa industry engaged Verité, a labor rights NGO, to create a “road map” for the verification process. In more than 60 countries and across a range of industries, Verité works with multinational brands, factories, NGOs, institutional investors and governments to improve the social and environmental performance of global supply chains.
From the start, Verité focused on a multi-stakeholder approach that would engage the many different NGOs, experts, government representatives and industry participants who are interested in the well-being of cocoa farming families.
Together, these stakeholders would help shape a verification component that was transparent, credible, achievable and would reflect a range of different views.
An NGO consultative meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, in December of 2007, yielded valuable input from a number of different perspectives. This input led to the establishment of the International Cocoa Verification Board (ICVB), a nine-member, multi-stakeholder group charged with overseeing the actual implementation of the verification process.
According to a press announcement distributed by Verité, “the Board is an independent body which is mandated to create and implement the process by which government surveys of labor in cocoa production are validated.”
In particular, the ICVB will select independent, credible verifiers to work on the ground in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, where they will evaluate the accuracy of the certification data collection process and subsequent reports issued by each country.
The ICVB is currently soliciting proposals from organizations to undertake the verification work on the ground in West Africa. Plans call for independent verification to be up-and-running by July, 2008.
To learn more about the work of Verité and the International Cocoa Verification Board, visit the following sites:
www.cocoaverification.net