West Africa Chocolate Children Slavery Education Research Paper

Chocolate and Life after Brexit
Name
Affiliation
Course
Tutor
Chocolate and Life after Brexit
Review of the regulations
The chocolate laws and regulations did not originate from intervention by European agencies as there were distinct regulations relating to the product, even before the creation and enaction by European Union. Thus, the implementation did not affect the European countries but nations from other continents, including and not limited to British and Ireland (Keunecke, 1996). The origin and processing of chocolate grew rapidly in Europe after its introduction, making it substantial to the country. Could its dominance be the reason for the establishment and protection against any altering of the manufacturing procedure? The Europeans were used to the original processing ingredients such that they did not want to accept and consume any chocolate produced otherwise. Keunecke (1996) argues that their old way of chocolate made of cocoa and natural ingredients, including sugar and milk, dominated the better part of Europe. The developed technical process spread to other parts of the world, yielding competition between the producing countries. The competition resulted in the exploitation of the original natural way of making chocolates as the competing industries tried anything, including the use of any viable product and not the authentic ingredients to succeed in the market (Keunecke, 1996). This deviation led to the ordinance of distinct regulations in the processing of chocolates to minimize the depletion of the original excellent product. Consequently, the European Economic Community issued a major directive in June 1973, the EU chocolate ordinance, to ensure the protection of the actual product.
The directive (EEC Directive 241/73) formed the basic regulations in the member countries of the European Union. Thus, the various countries had to adhere to the stipulations issued by the directive in the processing of chocolates. While the other countries might have had challenges coping with the regulations, the European countries found it normal since the formulations had already existed, and they also liked the natural way of making and having their chocolates. The directive contained various elements ranging from composition, manufacturing to the prohibitions in the process (Keunecke, 1996). The composition of the chocolates entailed regulations governing aspects such as additives. In this case, the chocolates could only comprise of the original natural products used by the European countries in the processing. The labeling regulations demanded adherence to the directive’s stipulations for all the various countries in the European Union (Keunecke, 1996). Also, the order had significant statutory definitions of prohibitions that demanded adherence in the manufacturing process. Finally, the directive issued a regulation on the minimum requirements for cocoa and chocolate for various products (Keunecke, 1996). The rules issued by the directive were strict, and the multiple countries comprising of the EU had to follow them to sell their chocolate products across the region.
Britain’s eligibility to sell chocolates in the European Union
Although Britain voted to exit the European Union, considering the issued regulations in the processing of chocolates, the country could still trade its products across the continent. However, the activity involved significant rules to help consumers identify the type of chocolate they would like to buy and also limit the addition of some products in the bars (BBC News Online, 2000). However, the acceptance of the deal cost Britain a battle towards the achievement. According to a report on the BBC News Online (2000), the war took 27 years, and the United Kingdom emerged winners. Consequently, they could sell their chocolates to the member countries. “European MPs have voted to allow chocolate made with up to 5% vegetable fats or up to 20% milk content to be sold in all 15 member states” (BBC News Online, 2000). In this case, although the deal went through considering the sale of chocolate by the UK, it only allowed some products composed of the specified ingredients. While British chocolates may have found a way into the markets, they were not assured of substantial earnings. Besides, of their best-known brands such as Mars and Kit Kat could not enter the market (BBC News Online, 2000). The restriction put the demand for the most desired chocolates on the line. Thus, although they could trade in the EU member countries, they could not earn the initial profits discovered before issuing of the 1973 directive (BBC News Online, 2000). The eligibility did not just allow them to flood the markets at will but had limitations on what they should offer.
On the other hand, some countries believing in pure chocolates campaigned for the ban of vegetable oil in the products. The countries involved in the campaigns included Belgium and France (BBC News Online, 2000). Was this yet another alarm for the British chocolates? Would the campaign instate more restrictions for their entry into the market? The activity did not alter the passed bill. Besides, consumers could buy what they want from their various locations. Customers would always be able to differentiate the chocolates from the pure ones considering the demand to label them differently (family chocolates) for easy identification (BBC News Online, 2000). In this case, any consumer getting the British brands would do it at will since they could make the ultimate decision on what they wanted to consume. While the plan might have worked well, it did not consider the reputation of children who can only make biased decisions. Also, the children would go for the Cadbury as it may have greater taste than the naturally processed chocolates. According to Huizinga & Kruse (2016), the EU ban and regulation cannot prevent the sale of unhealthy products to children. Although most leading food and beverage processing companies across the world have aligned to marketing their products responsibly, they cannot dispatch pure commodities only (Huizinga & Kruse, 2016). Thus, the commitment and through the EU regulations and pledge does not ultimately eradicate unhealthy products from the markets.
The Imposed Tariffs
Linking the quality, ingredients, and the location of the chocolate processing firms in various countries created the gap for imposing of taxes and tariffs on the process. Meloni & Swinnen (2015) argue that the idea arose due to realized growth in the private ethical and sustainability in the cocoa sourcing process, the major component in the chocolates. Also, most of the countries producing the commodity sourced cocoa from the Native province, and the shipping must have had some costs (Huizinga & Kruse, 2016). Thus, the price of cocoa was determined by the government through the imposed taxes, farm...