THIRST calls for EU to truly listen to producers and workers as CSDDD rolls out

Last week I was at the inaugural Western Europe Business and Human Rights Forum, which took place in Strasbourg beneath the Council of Europe’s magnificent dome, supported by its soaring wooden plumes.

It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with and learn from other business and human rights practitioners in one of the world’s most important tea drinking and trading regions. Countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands may not have the huge affection for tea that UK citizens have, but arguably they have more respect for it… for example, I’ve just been served an organic Darjeeling tea as the standard thé noir on the menu in a fairly modest Strasbourg café.

Impact of CSDDD on tea companies

Europe is also a vital hub of the global tea trade and some of the key companies operating there may be affected by the new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). For example, Acomo, the parent company of the Dutch tea trader Van Rees (the largest of the non-integrated tea traders) is within the scope of the Directive.

Many smaller companies – even though they’re not in scope – are also being swept along by the zeitgeist and taking a good look at their own human rights practices and policies.

Why listening is vital

I was part of a panel on what accompanying measures (such as training, capacity building, technical assistant and access to finance) are needed to support the EU’s “external actions” (such as the CSDDD) in producing countries.

I argued that affected workers may be “external” to Europe but are very much internal to EU supply chains – indeed are the very source of those supply chains. Which is why it’s vital to truly listen to what producers are telling them about the very real challenges they face in implementing some EU regulations.

Those on Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs), for example. Support could include measuring residue levels on boiled tea leaves rather than dry, allowing producers more time to adapt, providing technical assistance and access to finance to set up testing labs, or to adopt integrated pest management and to transition to organic methods. But pushing the regulations through without listening could jeopardise whole swathes of the industry, potentially putting thousands out of work.

I also argued that interventions must embrace the whole value chain and the ecosystem within which it operates. That means also listening carefully to what workers and their families say they need and listening to their ideas and solutions. They have resources and cultural knowledge that may not be visible to outsiders – however well meaning. Like the Kolkata woman who effectively dealt with sexual harassment by threatening to tie a rakhi thread on her abuser’s wrist – an act that in their culture would symbolically make him her “brother” and responsible for protecting her.

Untangling human rights issues from root causes up

Workers and their families have long been saying they desperately need a decent wage – and the lack of it is driving many of them away from the tea industry.

The causes of low pay are complex, rooted not only in employer practices, but – in our sector – also in things like low prices paid for tea, in low and poorly enforced national minimum wage levels, and in lack of effective trade union representation. And tackling even one of these root causes – for example – lack of effective trade union representation is complex in itself.

Most tea plantation workers are unionised, so due diligence might tick that box. But women tea workers often say that they don’t feel represented by the predominantly male trade unions. Training these women to become grassroots trade union representatives themselves and working with the unions to engage with them could be really helpful.

But effective wage negotiations are no use if the money simply isn’t there to pay them more. It also needs international trade terms that support sufficient profit from tea production to enable the payment of living wages, as well as adequate and well enforced national minimum wage levels to ensure additional profit reaches workers. The EU has an important role to play in shaping these measures.

MSIs have a vital role to play

My fellow panellists – Michaela Dodini of the European External Action Service, Dutch human rights academic Huib Huyse, Alena Kahle of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office and Julie Vallat, human rights VP at the luxury goods giant, LVMH – all agreed that multi-stakeholder initiatives had a vital role to play in ensuring that the new Directive is implemented effectively by providing companies with help, support and a platform for joint action.

THIRST brings together multiple stakeholders across the whole tea value chain to collaborate and share learning on the challenges facing the industry that we specialise in. This positions us ideally to support your company in navigating a post-CSDDD world – whether it is in scope or is just keen to seize the moment and ensure that the human rights of workers in your tea operations or supply chains are being respected.

The discussion also covered meaningful participation, whether accompanying measures have a ‘colonial flavour’, and my proposal for there to be ‘listening councils’ in producer countries affected by the CSDDD. Read the full text of my contributions here.