Costa Rica Banana Pilot

ETI Experimental Projects

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Introduction to Project

This project arose in 1999 out of significant campaigns regarding alleged oppression of trade union officials and unionised workers in Costa Rica targeted at ETI retailer members by various NGOs. The project was formed to try to seek a collective way for retailer, trade union and NGO members to identify workplace conditions and to then address any violations which were discovered. The project also sought to develop a methodology and approach which could be used elsewhere in the banana industry.

Project aims and objectives

The projects principle aim was “to define the best practice in monitoring the provisions contained in the ETI Base Code in the production of bananas in Costa Rica”. A supplementary aim was then to “address the issue of how to achieve independent verification of that monitoring”.

To do this the pilot sought to establish a working group of businesses, trade unions and NGOs in Costa Rica, to work with the ETI members in developing an approach which would be “agreeable to all stakeholders” and “that retailers in the UK and suppliers in Costa Rica can use to assure themselves that labour practices are consistent with the ETI Base Code”

The project sought to test two approaches to monitoring labour conditions in the production of bananas in Costa Rica and to learn:

• What contribution could the different stakeholders make to developing and implementing a system to monitor labour conditions?
• Could a commercial company inspect against the ETI Base Code to the satisfaction of all stakeholders? If not, were there ways they can improve their auditing method?
• What, in the opinion of the different stakeholders, were the advantages and disadvantages of using commercial social audit companies to monitor compliance with the Base Code?
• Where allegations of particular breaches of labour standards had been made, what inspection process was required to arrive at a reliable judgement of the situation? If breaches were proven, what process was required to bring about acceptable improvements in working conditions and in what time period?
• To what extent could the social audit processes applied in the pilot improve labour conditions and how could this be replicated?

ETI proposed the two comparative approaches be managed by a collective Steering Group in Costa Rica facilitated by an ETI employed co-ordinator and working with the Pilot Working Group in London; the first intended approach was a multi-stakeholder method where Costa Rican stakeholders would work together to develop an inspection methodology and carry out an inspection; the second was to carry out a commercial inspection and compare the two.

Key achievements and challenges:

After revisions to a proposal circulated in late 1999, a Steering Group was created in San José (Costa Rica) in May 2000, with the intention of managing the process locally. At the outset, agreement could not be reached to proceed with the multi-stakeholder approach and so this was postponed, while the Steering Group was convened to manage the commercial approach. This was agreed upon as a mechanism to try to build a workable relationship between the members of the Steering Group on a simpler management process, with a view to their then working on the multi-stakeholder approach later on. The Steering Group comprised a trade union and business representative with the NGO group ceding place to the trade union as the legitimate representatives of workers. Each representative was then to report to their own reference group to ensure inclusivity and transparency.

In September 2000, ETI recruited a Co-ordinator to facilitate the group. Convening the Working Group took a great deal of time and it took several months of lengthy dialogue and trust building to bring about the commercial inspections in January 2002. Barriers to agreement included accusations of bias against the Co-ordinator and a major campaign on bananas launched in Norway. The Steering Group dynamics and working relationship were damaged. It took considerable time and reassurances to identify what had happened, clarify that ETI had not participated in the documentary which was key in the Norwegian campaign and to re-establish ETI’s credibility sufficiently to a level where the Steering Group would convene again and plan towards the commercial audits.

In January 2002, two audits were carried out and the reports reviewed by the Steering Group members, but not in a group discussion as had been hoped. At the same time ETI’s Co-Ordinator resigned to take on a new role and needed to be replaced quickly.

The UK group sought collective feedback on the commercial inspection reports from the Steering Group but the new co-ordinator had great difficulty in convening this group. Communications began to break down and it appeared to the UK group that there was no longer any desire within Costa Rica to work collectively on the multi-stakeholder approach; although individually all stakeholders maintained they were committed, it was not possible to convene Steering Group meetings. In July 2002, a final visit to try to re-energise the project was made by ETI’s London Pilot Programme Manager and the Chair of the Pilot. Only partial success was achieved and accusations of bias were levelled at the new Co-ordinator, further undermining hope that the group could negotiate and devise a workable multi-stakeholder approach.

Soon after this the NGO group involved in Costa Rica resigned from the project citing slow progress. After long discussions the UK group decided that the impact of the project was insufficient compared to the resources which is was consuming. It sought proposals from the Costa Rica Steering Group as to how the project may be re-invigorated, but these were inconclusive or not forthcoming. In April 2003, the UK group decided formally to close the project, record the lessons and for members to continue to work individually on labour conditions in Costa Rica and elsewhere in the Banana industry.

Who was involved?

ETI members:
Companies: Asda, CWS, M&S, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, Tesco
Trade unions: IUF
NGOs: Central American Women’s Network, World Development Movement

as well as their suppliers, affiliates and partners in Costa Rica.
 

For further information contact:

eti@eti.org.uk

 

 

Project documents:

1. Una introducción para las personas o entidades con intereses en la industria bananera de Costa Rica (1999)
2. An introduction for stakeholders in the Costa Rican banana industry (1999) (as above, in English)

Other relevant links

Reports on the ETI impact assessment, 2006: Part 2d: Findings and recommendations from a case study in Costa Rica (bananas)