Campaign Overview

Campaign Parameters

Focus on child labor and worst forms of child labor only – not on child work that is performed on family farms.
Focus on eliminating exploitative child labor in agriculture in the United States and around the world.
Focus on improving child labor standards in agriculture, including the full implementation and adoption of all relevant international treaties and conventions related to children’s work in agriculture among children who function as hired workers.

Focus on all agricultural-related commodities – including fruits, vegetables, livestock, fishing, forestry, and tree crop agriculture (such as cocoa, nut, and rubber) from soil preparation, harvesting and processing – throughout the production chain until distribution in its final form.

Focus on providing information and education on environmental health and worker safety for children and their parents who work on family and commercially operated farms.

Campaign Focus

Government Focus:

To improve labor laws, regulations, standards and conditions worldwide for children and youth working as child laborers in agriculture.

To strengthen enforcement of protections for children working in the fields.

To utilize the “hot goods” provision, which has been successfully employed in the sweatshop issue, and apply to agricultural commodities.

To encourage and conduct research to assess the risks children encounter during all aspects of the agricultural commodity production chain including chemical and other hazardous exposures, equipment, tools and machinery, etc. and to use the resulting data to improve protections for children’s health and safety.
Consumer Focus:

To raise awareness of children laboring in the fields and its negative impact on their education, health and safety, and future employability.

To mobilize consumers on this issue.

To seek a mechanism to help consumers in the marketplace who wish to buy fruits, vegetables and other agricultural commodities produced under acceptable conditions (i.e., no child labor, decent wages for adults, safer working conditions, etc.).
Industry Focus (employers and retailers):

To raise awareness and generate support for improved codes of conduct and social accountability standards in production practices among leading companies producing agricultural commodities and products.
To gain grower and retailer support for a mechanism of independent inspections to assure consumers that agricultural commodities are produced under decent conditions (i.e., no child labor, decent wages for workers, etc.).