Why are industry and government representatives on the board?
The involvement of NGOs, industry and government in a multi-stakeholder initiative such as the ICVB is virtually without precedent. While there was some concern expressed originally that industry and government representatives had inherent conflicts of interest that would preclude them from fairly serving on the board, Verité’s view was that the composition of the board, and the transparency with which it operates, provided sufficient checks and balances to preclude industry or governments from unduly influencing the work of the verifiers. It was also Verité’s view that the magnitude of this certification effort (scaling up to 100% in the future), and the economic importance of cocoa to both countries, required the full engagement of all stakeholders, and especially industry and governments, in the process. Government representation, in particular, on the board conferred sufficient legitimacy to the verification process to ensure that all levels of government (Ministries of Education,
