The government of Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday presents before the country's parliament a draft law to prohibit mistreatment of children and child labor. According to the statement from the country's Labor and Public Service Ministry, this law aims not only to stop mistreatment of children and subjecting them to worst forms of labor, but also to pursue the perpetrators and punish them. The statement said the draft proposes punishment of up to 20 years in prison for the violators of the law. The law also provides that it will be the responsibility of the government and local authorities to take care of children who have been exposed to mistreatment and forced labor. The law will cover the insufficiency in the national judicial system regarding protection of children from forced labor and mistreatment. In Cote d'Ivoire, the world's top cocoa producer, children are reportedly found working in plantations. The majority of them come from Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. At the initiative of two American senators, Cote d'Ivoire was threatened with an embargo on exportation of its cocoa to the United States, which imports about 43 percent of the country's cocoa, unless the country puts in place mechanisms to stop use of children in cocoa production. The country has set up administrative structures such as the national committee to fight child labor and the autonomous service against child labor. With this law to be tabled in parliament, 'the Ivorian government has accelerated the fight against mistreatment of children as well as forced labor for children,' the statement said. 