The undersigned companies (Ferrero, Nestlé, Tony’s Chocolonely) and civil society organisations (Fairtrade International, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, International Cocoa Initiative, IDH, Rainforest Alliance, Solidaridad, VOICE Network) in the cocoa and chocolate sector have consistently supported the principles behind the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) which, we believe, represents an important step forward in driving the necessary transformation of the cocoa and chocolate sector and in making human rights and environmental due diligence the norm in global value chains. While the company signatories all have their own programmes addressing key human rights and environmental issues, voluntary efforts by themselves will not be sufficient; legislation that levels the playing field and makes due diligence the norm is needed.
We welcome the aim of simplifying reporting obligations under the CSDDD and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, but we believe that a number of the proposed amendments to the CSDDD included in the Omnibus proposal published by the European Commission on 26 February will in practice make companies’ implementation of their obligations more difficult, and undermine some of the fundamental aims of the Directive.
Negative impacts arising from human rights violations and environmental damage pose a real threat to the supply chains for products on which our companies depend – primarily cocoa beans produced by smallholder farmers. The CSDDD as adopted has the potential to help companies in our sector, and their supply-chain partners, develop more secure and sustainable supply chains for the long term; some of the proposed amendments undermine this, and will not support the emergence of a level playing field for responsible business conduct.
The proposed amendments that undermined the CSDDDs effectiveness include
- Focus on direct suppliers is not risk-based
- Responsible disengagement has been removed
- Monitoring has been weakened
- Member states’ ambition has been blocked
Read the full statement here.