To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives:

This petition of the undersigned citizens of Australia

Draws to the attention of the house that since the ‘Harkin -Engel’ protocol signing in 2001 only slow progress has been made in ending the worse forms of child labour in the cocoa industry

We therefore ask the House to act to set a deadline for the importation of cocoa products involving the use of the worst forms of child labour. We ask for a deadline for two reasons. Firstly because in 2001 the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the World Cocoa Foundation agreed in the Harkin -Engel protocol that by July 1, 2005 they could eliminate THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR”. Secondly because cocoa and chocolate companies such as Cadbury’s (with t heir Dairy Milk chocolate) and Nestle (Kit Kat UK) have already shown that it is possible to comply with the protocol. We ask the House that this deadline includes developing and implementing industry—wide standards of public certification for imports of cocoa beans and their derivative products so that such items will not be allowed to be imported into Australia unless they are shown to have been grown and/or processed without any of the worst forms of child labour as listed in article three in ILO convention 182 which Australia ratified on 19th December 2006.