SUBMISSION TO LOCAL

NETWORK

A. HISTER

CADBURY AUSTRALIA

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS

04/09/2010

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CONTENTS

OUR MISSION.........................................................................4

RECOMMENDATION I.............................................................5

RECOMMENDATION II............................................................6

RECOMMENDATION III...........................................................7

5 BENEFITS FOR LOCAL NETWORK MEMBERS.........................8

5 BENEFITS FOR KEY STAKEHOLDERS......................................9

CHALLENGES AND RISKS........................................................10

WHY IT WILL WORK..............................................................10

REFERENCES..........................................................................11

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OUR MISSION‘Cadbury means quality’; this is our promise. Our reputation is built

upon quality; our commitment to continuous improvement will ensure

that our promise is delivered.

This statement not only applies to our products but extends into our responsibility to secure

the quality of life for those affected by Cadbury. For nearly 200 years, we at Cadbury have

prided ourselves on our corporate citizenship and feel it is what makes us stand out from the

over saturated business market. This submission hopes to continue our ongoing commitment

towards an improved global community by engaging other corporations to follow in our

footsteps and also learn from our mistakes. In this proposal we intend to address two of the ten

principles of the UN Global Contract:

PRINCIPLE 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of

internationally protected human rights.

PRINCIPLE 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental

responsibility.

In order to uphold these principles we believe the following steps need to be taken:

The introduction of policies which further investigate the impact of corporations at all levels of

their supply chain

Education programmes established between third world producers and manufacturers

The creation of a specialised committee to ensure that companies are held accountable for all

environmental damage they have contributed to.

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RECOMMENDATION I

CORPORATE POLICIES BE IMPLEMENTED TO INCREASE

AWARENESS THROUGHOUT SUPPLY CHAINS AND

INVESTIGATE THE SOCIAL IMPACTS OF BUSINESS

TRANSACTIONS

IMPLEMENTATION

Our experience in West Africa has shown how negligence within a supply chain can lead to the

abuse of human rights. We encourage other multinational corporations to learn from our

mistakes and adopt policies that ensure business managers are fully aware of all human rights

issues that may be encountered during any stage of production. By introducing policies that

further investigate the impact of corporate decisions on the wider community it becomes

harder for private corporations to turn a blind eye to third party human rights abuse. This in

turn encourages responsible corporate governance allowing businesses to support Principle 1

of the UN Global Contract.

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A primary stakeholder affected in Cadbury’s supply chain (Cocoa Campaign)

RECOMMENDATION II

BASIC EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS BE ESTABLISHED AND

EMBEDDED IN ALL TRADE AGREEMENTS

IMPLEMENTATION

Although we have found that our current agreement with Fairtrade has improved the quality of

life for our primary stakeholders in Western Africa, we believe that this agreement can be

improved. By establishing a regulatory body in conjunction with local foreign community’s we

can ensure that only suppliers who adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be

eligible for compensation. As stated in Article 26 of the declaration (Universal Declaration of

Human Rights n.d.), this includes the right to education and any suppliers found denying any

persons of an education will become ineligible for any price floor agreement. Education is

integral in breaking the viscous cycle of human rights abuse and therefore it is important that

basic education requirements are developed and agreed upon to implement in community

development programmes.

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Secondary stakeholders, a local community in Ghana (African School)

RECOMMENDATION III

A SPECIALISED REGULATORY BODY ESTABLISHED TO ENSURE

PRIVATE CORPORATIONS ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

IMPLENTATION

To minimise the impact corporations have through agricultural endeavours, we propose that

permits which can be bought and sold domestically entitling the holder to use specified areas of

land for specified agricultural purposes need to be created. Through co-operation between the

UN and local governments, the amount of permits for each country can be globally agreed upon

and handed out, similar to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS n.d.). Not only will

this help contain deforestation but will also limit the amount of negative agricultural harvests

present. This will in turn increase the price of such produce and make it a less attractive

alternative for manufacturers, as we found with palm oil.

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Palm Oil plantation in Indonesia (Indonesia Fastest Forest Destroyer)

5 BENEFITS FOR LOCAL NETWORK MEMBERS

1. POSITIVE PUBLICITYLocal Members will be seen as taking a proactive approach to social issues.

2. IMPROVED COMMUNITY RELATIONSImproved relationships with local community’s supports future endeavours within that region.

3. SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OPERATIONS

By bettering the local environments and communities where currently operating, corporations

are investing into the foundations of a sustainable business.

4. PUBLIC IMAGEBy paying more attention to the issues at hand members will be seen as good corporate

citizens.

5. INCREASED CONSUMER MARKETMembers can capitalise on being a ‘green’ company and appeal to a wider range of consumers.

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5 BENEFITS FOR KEY STAKEHOLDERS

1. LOWER POWER DISTANCESecondary stakeholders such as WWF will have a lower power distance between themselves

and private corporations.

2. GREATER QUALITY OF LIFECommunities which aid local network members will experience a better quality of life.

3. INCREASED LIVELIHOODIncreased opportunities for sustainable jobs.

4. INDEPENDANCECommunities will be better educated and will not rely solely on agricultural activities.

5. SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTCommunities will benefit from a sustainable environment and in turn livelihood.

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CHALLENGES AND RISKSAs of current times there is a great power distance between multi-national corporations and

developing countries and communities. For this reason a third party regulatory body needs to

be formed to provide an unbiased decision making framework. As some corporations seem to

have an almost limitless financial supply, penalties which extend beyond economic

disincentives need to be enforced, by international courts, upon private corporations. This

could take the form of ‘name and shame’ publications or sanctions against businesses which do

not show adequate corporate social responsiveness. Private businesses will initially have a

higher expenditure but this can be seen as an investment into a sustainable future. The risk to

corporations who do not join are maximised by those who do.

WHY IT WILL WORKBOTH COMMUNITIES AND PRIVATE CORPORATIONS HAVE A

VESTED INTEREST IN EACH OTHERS PARTICIPATION

The above issues not only relate to Cadbury but widely express community values across the

globe. By endeavouring to create a symbiotic relationship between communities and

corporations, where both parties benefit from the others involvement, the interests and values

of either can be addressed responsibly and with due diligence.

We hope that this proposal will be carefully analysed and hope to receive a draft of actions

from Local Network Members in the near future.

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Yours sincerely,

A. HISTER

A. HisterCadbury Head of Communications

REFERENCESAfrican School. Image. 2005. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/

2005/05_may/26/africa_four.shtml (accessed September 28, 2010)

Cocoa Campaign. Image. n.d. http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/cocoa-campaign

(accessed September 28, 2010)

CPRS. n.d. http://www.climatechange.gov.au/government/initiatives/cprs.aspx

(accessed September 29, 2010)

Indonesia Fastest Forest Destroyer. Image. n.d. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/

05/indonesia_faste.php (accessed September 29, 2010)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights. n.d. http://www.un.org/en/documents/

udhr/index.shtml (accessed September 28, 2010)

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