When the University reinstated its contracts with the Coca-Cola Company in April of 2006 after a four-month suspension, the corporation agreed to an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations in Colombia and environmental violations in India.

A year later, both the International Labor Organization investigation in Colombia and the Tata Energy Research Institute investigation in India haven't met the deadline set by the University's Dispute Review Board for producing a documented assessment of conditions in either country.

In June of 2005, the Dispute Review Board said it had evidence that local Coke bottlers' labor violations and pesticide use in India may have violated the University's Vendor Code of Conduct.

The University suspended its contracts with Coke after they expired in late December 2005 for the company's failure to meet a Dispute Review Board deadline. Nineteen other universities had stopped the sale of Coke products on campus by that time.

When Coke products were brought back to campus in April of 2006, the Dispute Review Board set a deadline for assessments of the conditions in both countries to be completed by March 31, 2007 and be reported to the University by April 30. By May 31, Coke is required to have a plan of action in place.

So far, the investigations have missed the March deadline.

On March 30, Ed Potter, the director of global relations for Coca-Cola and the U.S. delegate to the International Labor Organization, held a phone conference to update administrators at universities around the country on the progress of the assessment of operations in Colombia.

Dan Sharphorn, the University's deputy general counsel said Potter reported that an investigation would not take place until the ILO had established a presence in Colombia.

Sharphorn also said that to his knowledge the office has not yet been set up.

But according to notes from Potter's conference call provided to The Michigan Daily by a Coca-Cola spokeswoman, Potter said an agreement between the ILO, the Colombian government and labor unions was reached in June, establishing a permanent presence for the ILO in Colombia.

According to the notes, Potter said the office was opened in December.

"It has taken longer than expected for the ILO to set up this office space," said Coca-Cola spokesperson Kirsten Whit. "They finally set it up towards the end of this past year, but as a result they had to delay the actual assessments."

Whit also said the ILO presence in Colombia is not specifically for the Cola-Cola Company, but to monitor all corporations.

As a branch of the United Nations that monitors labor practices, the ILO typically investigates countries, not corporations.

The ILO has set up a team of four to work with different labor unions in Colombia and assess the Coke bottling companies, Whit said.

According to both Whit and University spokeswoman Kelly Cunningham, an ILO report is expected in the fall.

In India, the Tata Energy Research Institute is supposed to be assessing water sustainability. Sharphorn said an assessment is expected at some point this summer.

Ray Rogers, president and director of the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke, a national group, has a different view of the investigations.

"It's really a comedy of sorts if you look at it," Rogers said. "The ILO investigation and their office in Colombia doesn't exist now and won't ever exist."

Rogers, like many involved with the issue, is especially concerned about the ties between Potter and the ILO, because Potter's involvement in both the ILO and the Coca-Cola Company.

"The ILO cannot be considered unbiased because of their relationship with Ed Potter," he said.

University alum Clara Hardie, a former member of the now-defunct student group Coalition to Cut Contracts with Coca-Cola, said she is worried about where the information on the investigation in Colombia and India is coming from.

"We're getting all our information from Coke," Hardie said. "What happened to the third party, the independent investigators? Where are they?"

As for student activists on campus, Hardie said the return of Coke products and lack of progress in the investigations has dampened their spirits.

"There are still so many people dedicated to the issue," Hardie said. "But many feel betrayed by the administration. They didn't ask for our opinion when they reinstated the contract with Coke.