Coca-Cola to check Cambodia land-grab claim

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/SEA-02-121113.html



Coca-Cola to check Cambodia land-grab claim
By Samean Yun
Nov 12, '13

Declaring that it has "zero tolerance" towards land grabbing, Coca-Cola has agreed to investigate a long-running case in Cambodia where villagers are seeking court action against a company accused of seizing their land to make way for plantations linked to the supply of sugar to the soft drinks manufacturer.

"The Coca-Cola company believes that land grabbing is unacceptable," the Atlanta, Georgia-based giant said in a landmark statement in which it agreed to review the status of its sugar suppliers to ensure that it does not buy from plantations that illegally evicted local residents.

"Our company does not typically purchase ingredients directly from farms, nor are we owners of sugar farms or plantations, but as a major buyer of sugar, we acknowledge our responsibility to take action and to use our influence to help protect the land rights of local communities," Coca-Cola said last Thursday.

The move came a month after global human rights group Oxfam and its supporters kicked off a campaign calling on Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Associated British Foods, three of the largest players in the sugar industry, to "commit” to zero tolerance for land grabs. In the campaign, Oxfam cited, among others, a seven-year-old land grab case in Cambodia.