It was around 1.5 years ago that Sinaloa's Confederation of Agribusiness Associations (CAADES) director Mario Robles started conversations with counterparts around Mexico to address common challenges in horticulture, including policies toward child labor and company stores. The answer? Forming the tentatively named Fresh Produce Social Responsibility Alliance to set standards in good agricultural labor practices. In November a wide range of Mexican produce groups and state business associations held the first meeting of the incipient organization, before the LA Times lifted the lid on some of the sensitive topics they were addressing a month later through its investigative report 'Product of Mexico'.

"The alliance is not the result of the LA Times article, but something we've been working on for a while," clarifies Robles, who says improvements are needed in Mexico's produce industry even though most growers and exporters are doing the right thing.

"We are talking about a country where nothing is perfect, but no country is perfect, and through this alliance there is greater potential to find ways to implement good labor practices, setting rules that our members can follow."

Two key issues raised in the LA Times report included child labor on farms and indentured servitude in independent company stores, also known as 'tiendas de raya'.

"We have been asked about what we can do to eradicate or reduce the presence of child labor in fields. In 2007 we started working on that and eradication efforts in Sinaloa have been successful," Robles tells www.freshfruitportal.com.

"There are still some small growers in the state who have child labor, but we are doing what we can to stamp this out."

On the issue of company stores, he says Sinaloa's state-backed regulation system and private industry-initiated stamp schemes could serve as a potential example for members of the newly formed alliance.

"Here in Sinaloa we have a government program called Diconsa that dictates the products from stores that will be sold and how they will be managed," he says.

"There are 18 fixed stores under the scheme, and there are also 42 mobile stores that travel between about 80 fields, selling products to workers at official government prices."

However, Robles says Diconsa's resources are still limited and need greater funding.

"We'd like to see the strength of Diconsa increase with wider coverage, but we ourselves have started getting stores to establish rules whereby workers are given stamps with every purchase, and at the end of the season a calculation is made based on margins so that they can get something back.

"We would like to see this experience adopted by all members of the alliance."

Still in its early stages, Robles says the organization will have its official launch sometime this month with a formal structure to be set in place.

Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) president Lance Jungmeyer confirms the alliance began as a conversation "many months ago".

"Bringing together the various produce organizations in Mexico toward this goal will result in a much broader and deeper understanding of the responsibilities that agriculture employers have to their employees," he says.

"Mexican growers need to do a better job of telling their story, and the alliance will help toward that goal.

"The untold story of Mexican produce is that many companies already are operating at world-class levels, giving their employees clean and safe living quarters, health care, education for children and more. In Sinaloa, for instance, when you factor in benefits and wages, farm laborers earn almost five times the minimum wage."

Related story: Opinion: LA Times' Mexican investigation reveals blight on produce sector

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