As part of the annual assessment of its affiliate members, the FLA since 2013 has conducted monitoring visits in Olam’s cocoa supply chain in Côte d’Ivoire.  In 2016, the FLA focused its independent external monitoring visits on three cooperatives that had never been assessed.
The report summarizes 2016 assessment findings and the company’s responses and summarizes the progress and remaining gaps related to issues found during previous assessments in 2015.
The 2016 assessments showed progress in many areas of the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct, such as a lower rate of reported child labor cases (none reported in 2016), and increased awareness of good practices and the Code of Conduct among farmers. However, the assessments revealed persistent issues related to the age-verification process, children’s exposure to chemical hazards, record-keeping for payment of certification premiums to farmers, and other issues.