Which criteria should we label for that are meaningful in other countries across the world?
Made by workers:
Receiving Minimum wage (which one)?
Receiving Free healthcare?
Working a maximum of 8 hours / day?
Over the age of 16? 18?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, but defining what is acceptable is not easy. Don't forget that in most western countries no access to free healthcare would be defined as unacceptable. Also in some poor countries 14 year old "kids" have fought against anti-child labour laws because they were the only provider for their family and there is no help from the government regardless of your condition.
Lots of time "free range" is the same as caged, just... without the cages. The hens are too fat to go anywhere anyways.
The problem isn't trying to define meaningful labels, but to record the most salient facts. For starters: record and disseminate the human hours exerted and wage paid for each manufactured item.
2 Assemblers @ 1 hr/each @ $2/hr
1 Packager @ 1 minute @ $1/hr
etc
Consumers may then dynamically choose based on their current preferences. I don't think it's an ideal system, but it would be a significant improvement over the current situation.
Love it.
Daylighting externalities is key to changing behavior. Enough of us vote with our dollars to move the needle.
I stopped eating chocolate (cold turkey) when I first learned about the plantations using slave labor, children, etc.
I resumed buying chocolate when I learned about the Fair Trade program.
http://www.geek.com/apple/apple-approves-then-removes-app-hi...
It's impossible to prove that the entire supply chain for any electronic device is 100% free of exploitative labour conditions. Metals are fundamentally untraceable and a modern device contains components from hundreds or even thousands of suppliers, sub-contractors and second sources. All it takes is one manager twenty steps down in the supply chain to lose a piece of paper and your chain of custody is broken for a sizeable batch of devices.
In practice, every electronic device would be required to carry such a warning label simply as a precaution, rendering it meaningless.
For this to work, there has to be an ethical alternative available (if at slightly higher cost).
I wonder what effect there would be on the electronics industry if all iPhones in the EU had to be sold with a prominent sticker 'Produced with slave labour' ? I honestly think that regulations can nudge the behaviour and expectations of 'the masses' through this kind of labelling.
(1) http://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/farm/layinghens/far...