Liam Aylward (ALDE), in writing. – (GA) For the past number of years, the media are drawing the attention of the public and politicians to the issue of child labour. According to a recent study, however, the sector’s efforts in tackling child labour have been unfair and imperfect and nothing has happened in the case of 97% of farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. Unicef estimate that half a million children are engaged in labour on farms in Côte d’Ivoire, a country that produces 40% of the world’s cocoa. Some 80% of the EU’s cocoa comes from West Africa and the European cocoa industry is the world’s largest cocoa industry. Therefore, the EU has a duty to ensure the sustainability of the cocoa sector, and, morally and practically, issues in relation to child labour must be central to EU trade agreements. It is a positive aspect of the International Cocoa Agreement that Articles 42 and 43 of the agreement relate to child labour. However, the Commission must look at labelling that declares that products ‘free of child labour’ are being imported to ensure that the voluntary conventions in relation to putting an end to the worst kinds of child labour are being properly implemented.