Coca-Cola, State Department of U.S. and three crypto companies – Bitfury Group, Blockchain Trust Accelerator and Emercoin have come together to fight the battle against forced labour with a solution using blockchain technology. According to the State Department of U.S., it is the first project of its kind that helps to overcome a global issue such as forced labour.
Blockchain Trust Accelerator – the non-profit organization that employs blockchain to overcome social and political challenges worldwide, indicated that the new joint blockchain pilot project will create a secure, and tamper-proof registry for workers. Moreover, the work contracts will be validated on the blockchain and notarized digitally.
Bitfury Group will be responsible for creating the blockchain platform and Emercoin will also contribute to the project with blockchain services.
Brent Wilton, Coca-Cola’s head of global workplace rights, told Reuters:
“We are partnering with the pilot of this project to further increase transparency and efficiency of the verification process related to labour policies within our supply chain.”
The U.S. State Department has expressed its anticipation and enthusiasm towards the project. However, Scott Busby, Deputy Assistant Secretary, stated:
“blockchain cannot compel companies or those in authority to abide by the labour contracts, it can create a validated chain of evidence that will encourage compliance with those contracts.”
Coca-Cola Looking To Right Past Wrongs
According to reports of KnowTheChain (KTC), a resource to understand and address forced labour risks globally indicated that many food and beverage companies for indirectly encouraging forced labour in countries they source sugarcane from, one of them being Coca-Cola.
In 2016, Coca-Cola production and distribution houses in Brazil were accused subjecting their workers to ‘slave-like labour conditions’. Similarly, in 2012, the fizzy giant was accused of providing “squalid conditions” to African migrants in Southern Italy who harvested oranges for the company.
As per KnowTheChain, the majority of the large food and beverage companies fail to accommodate to the basic needs of its workers. The study also indicates that Coca-Cola has pledged to undertake a 28-country study by the year 2020 which would mainly focus on sweatshop labour, forced labour and land rights related to its sugar supply chain.
According to International Labour Organization, almost 25 million people work under forced labour out of which nearly half are based in the Asia-pacific region. The project, though in its preliminary phase has the prospect of changing the face of forced labour by using blockchain technology. It is unknown whether other Food and Beverages companies would participate in the project.
