Forced Labor and Sugar Reform
The US move to block sugar imports from the Fanjul family-owned Central Romana plantation in the Dominican Republic has electrified our campaign for sugar industry reform, putting a spotlight on the use of forced labor in sugar production.
That spotlight forces us to consider the tragedy of forced labor inside one of our closest neighbors. Perhaps more important, it forces us to consider the fact that US policy makes that forced labor possible.
How so? Through the sugar program in the farm bill. According to an estimate by agricultural economist Vincent Smith, the sugar program delivers at least $150 million per year in net benefits to the Fanjul family, whose companies dominate the industry both in the Dominican Republic and the United States.