In September 2001, chocolate and cocoa industry representatives signed an agreement, developed in partnership with Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Eliot Engel, to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products wherever cocoa is grown.

The agreement, known as the "Harkin Engel protocol" prescribes a comprehensive, six-point problem-solving approach along with a time-bound process for credibly eliminating the use of abusive child labor in cocoa growing.

It marked an important first -an entire industry including companies from the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, taking responsibility for addressing the worst forms of child labor in its supply chain.