Letter to Ecuadorian Banana Industry on Child Labor Agreement

Human Rights Watch welcomes the acknowledgement by the Ecuadorian banana industry of child labor in that sector and the drafting of an agreement to address the problem. In particular, we commend the industry for strengthening its commitment to uphold Ecuadorian child labor laws and for increasing the minimum age of employment in the industry to fifteen from the legal minimum of fourteen. Nonetheless, we are deeply concerned about the substance of this agreement and the process by which it was reached.