T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 118

T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 118

The January 2014 letter to Human Rights Watch also stated that Lorillard “had not received any reports of child labor or other labor violations.” 422 Lorillard declined to provide information about the volume of tobacco purchases in the United States. Lorillard also declined to meet with Human Rights Watch, citing the company’s “indirect relationship with the tobacco farms.” 423

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International (PMI), a United States-based tobacco company with operations based in Lausanne, Switzerland, 424 describes itself as “the leading international tobacco company” with an estimated 16 percent share of the total cigarette market outside of the United States. 425 PMI owns seven of the world’s top 15 cigarette brands, including Marlboro , the world’s leading brand and sells its products in over 180 markets. 426 According to PMI, the company contracts with more than 3,000 tobacco growers in the United States, supplying approximately 10 percent of PMI’s global leaf purchases. 427

Of the companies contacted by Human Rights Watch for this report, Philip Morris International has the most detailed child labor policy and articulated meaningful progress to develop and implement policies and procedures to address child labor in its supply chain. 428 PMI’s detailed and specific child labor policy, a component of its Agricultural Labor Policy (ALP), prohibits work for children under 15, or the minimum age set by a country’s laws, whichever is higher, with the exception of light work on family farms. PMI also prohibits children under 18 from engagement in hazardous work. 429

422 Letter from Milstein. 423 Ibid. 424 PMI, “Key Facts and Financial Data,” http://www.pmi.com/eng/about_us/company_overview/pages/key_facts_and_financial_data.aspx (accessed February 12,

2014). In January 2008, PMI spun off from Altria Group, described above, and became an independent company. PMI, “Company Overview,” http://www.pmi.com/eng/about_us/company_overview/pages/company_overview.aspx (accessed February 12, 2014). 425 Ibid.

426 Other leading brands include L&M , Chesterfield , Parliament , and Virginia Slims . PMI, “Company Overview.” 427 Letter from Jennifer P. Goodale, Annex 1, p. 13. 428 See Philip Morris International, Agricultural Labor Practices Progress Report 2013,” http://www.pmi.com/eng/media_center/Documents/PMI_Progress_Report_FINAL_not_watermarked_low_res_0328.pdf

(accessed April 12,2014). 429 Philip Morris International (PMI), “Agricultural Labor Practices Code,”

“http://www.pmi.com/eng/media_center/company_statements/documents/alp_code.pdf (accessed February 12, 2014). In 2011, PMI launched the new Agricultural Labor Practices Code to “promote fair and safe labor practices on all farms that grow

119 H UMAN R IGHTS W ATCH | M AY 2014

PMI listed the hazardous activities that children of any age should not perform, including: driving vehicles, using sharp tools in movement, …, handling and applying pesticides and fertilizers, carrying heavy loads, working at heights, working long hours that interfere with health and well-being, working in extreme temperatures, working at night, harvesting, topping and pulling suckers off of tobacco plants. 430 In a February 2014 meeting with Human Rights Watch, PMI officials gave several examples of tasks that the company did not consider hazardous for children, including weeding, handling seedlings, watering seedbeds, and selecting tobacco leaf after plants have dried. 431

PMI has developed detailed guidance materials, training materials and programs, and internal and external monitoring procedures specific to each market in which it works to facilitate implementation of the ALP, including the child labor policy in its global supply chain. 432 PMI also engaged Verite, a non-profit organization, to provide PMI with “experience, advice and hands-on support in the creation, implementation and monitoring of the ALP Program.” 433

In early 2012, PMI incorporated its ALP Code standards in contractual arrangements with all growers in the United States and conducted training sessions to cover all of its contracted farms. PMI reported to Human Rights Watch that it severed ties with 20 growers who stated that they could not comply with the ALP standards on child labor. 434 PMI noted that its ALP code “maintains generally stricter standards than defined in US federal law, both in terms of the types of activities deemed hazardous and the age limits for performing such activities.” 435

the tobacco we buy.” Letter from Jennifer P. Goodale, Vice President, Contributions and External Labor Policies, Philip Morris International, to Human Rights Watch, February 4, 2014 430 Letter from Goodale, Annex 1, p. 1.

431 Human Rights Watch meeting with Jennifer Goodale, vice president, Contributions and External Labor Policies, PMI; Miguel Coleta, director of External Labor Policies, PMI; Brandie Davis, director of Corporate Affairs, PMI; Robin Jaffin, director

of Supplier Programs, Verite, and Jacqui McDonald, Verite, New York City, February 6, 2014. 432 PMI, “Agricultural Labor Policy,” and “Agricultural Labor Practices (ALP) Progress Report,” September 2012,

http://www.pmi.com/eng/media_center/company_statements/documents/pmi_alp_progress_report_2012.pdf (accessed February 3, 2014). 433 Letter from Goodale.

434 Ibid, Annex 1, p. 2. 435 Ibid, Annex 1, p. 1.