Coop Italia has signed an agreement with the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy (MCFLP) to promote best practices to eliminate the exploitation of labour in agriculture.
The research project aims to compile and assess best practices that EU member states have undertaken as a result of institutional and private interventions promoted to counter the phenomenon of illegal hiring.
The MCFLP will rely on the cooperation and input of its many scientific partners to set up a group of experts to conduct the survey, taking into account economic, legal, political and social aspects.
According to the MCFLP, an estimated 25% of agricultural workers in Europe are illegal or 'irregular' (casual). The highest percentage is in Portugal (up to 60%), while the figure for Italy, dating back to 2013, amounts to 31.7%.
'Buoni e Giusti'
For Coop, according to its vice-president Enrico Migliavacca, participation in the project represents an integral part of the campaign 'Buoni e Giusti', launched one year ago to promote the ethics of high-risk horticultural sectors.
A total of eight production chains were monitored and 270 farms were audited, resulting in the suspension of two operations.
Coop defined the results of the campaign as encouraging, pointing out that the reports of serious non-compliance after advanced inspections led to the suspension of relations with two companies in the tomato-industry supply chain, due to serious security problems and audit hostilities.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
