In just over two weeks, Tulane University will release the results of a long-awaited, Labor Department-commissioned study of labor practices in the African cocoa industry. Plagued by allegations that it used abusive child labor and even slavery, the industry vowed to clean up its act six years ago as part of a landmark protocol spearheaded by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.).
The deadline for the industry’s compliance with the Harkin-Engel protocol comes in July. How far the industry has moved toward meeting its goals is still a subject of some debate.
Rosemary Gutierrez, Harkin’s foreign policy aide, says that at a meeting sponsored by the State Department in April, industry groups bluntly moved to block any effort to verify compliance with the agreement, a recollection that another attendee confirmed....