T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 112 T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 112

T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 112 T OBACCO ’ S H IDDEN C HILDREN 112

In response to the recommendations concerning child labor outlined in this report, Altria Group stated that it believed the recommendation is “counter to current farming practices in the US” and “at odds with certain communities where family farming is a way of life.” Altria Group committed to work through the Farm Labor Practices Group multi-stakeholder initiative in North Carolina regarding child labor as well as education and training for growers, farm labor contractors, and workers, and to enhance its monitoring of farms “to better quantify child labor and relevant circumstances on our contracted farms.” 384

British American Tobacco BAT is a leading global tobacco company with products sold in around 180 markets. 385 BAT products account for 13 percent of the global cigarette market, and an even greater percentage of the global market outside of China. 386 BAT has more than 200 cigarette brands in its portfolio, including Pall Mall , the third largest cigarette brand in the world. 387 BAT owns a 42 percent stake in the US tobacco manufacturing company Reynolds American. 388 BAT stated that about 2.5 percent of its global leaf purchases are sourced from the US through third-party leaf suppliers, including Reynolds American. 389

In a January 2014 letter to Human Rights Watch, BAT stated that it does not employ children in any of its direct operations and that it “aims to apply its commitment” to protecting children from labor exploitation in its global supply chain, drawing on guidance

383 Ibid. 384 Letter from Jeanette Hubbard, Vice President, Procurement, Altria Client Services, April 30, 2014. 385 British American Tobacco (BAT), “Who We Are,” http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52ADCY?opendocument&SKN=1http://www.bat.co

m/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52ADCY?opendocument&SKN=1 (accessed December 10, 2013). 386 BAT, “Global Tobacco Market,”

http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO6Z2EUD?opendocument&SKN=1 (accessed December 10, 2013). 387 BAT, “Our Brands,”

http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52ADK2?opendocument&SKN=1 (accessed December 10, 2013). 388 Reynolds American was formed in 2004 by a merger between two US cigarette companies: the Brown & Williamson

Tobacco Corporation, previously owned by BAT, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. BAT, “Our History: Recent Past 1969- Now,” http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO52ADJ8?opendocument&SKN=1 (accessed December 10, 2013). 389 Ninety-five percent of the tobacco comes from North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Letter from Wheaton.

113 H UMAN R IGHTS W ATCH | M AY 2014 113 H UMAN R IGHTS W ATCH | M AY 2014

In its letter to Human Rights Watch BAT did not specify other tasks or work that BAT considers hazardous for children in the United States or other countries. 393 Concerning all workers, including child workers, and exposure to nicotine, BAT’s website states:

There are a number of steps we recommend tobacco workers take to reduce the risk of contracting GTS. These include: Avoiding handling wet tobacco by waiting for the rain (or dew) to dry from the leaf. Quickly changing out of wet clothes saturated with moisture originating from green tobacco leaves. Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to avoid direct skin contact with tobacco during harvesting. We recommend clothing such as gloves, trousers and shirts/aprons made from impermeable cloth, although in hot weather this can increase the risk of heat stress. The success of this measure largely depends on the farmers’ willingness to use PPE. 394

390 Letter from Kingsley J. Wheaton, Director, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, British American Tobacco, to Human Rights Watch, January 21, 2014.

391 BAT, “Child Labor Policy,” February 29, 2000, http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO725ECW/$FILE/medMD725KV2.pdf?openelement

(accessed December 10, 2013). 392 Letter from Wheaton, and BAT, “Child Labor Policy.”

393 Letter from Wheaton. 394 BAT, “Green Tobacco Sickness,” http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO8SNDPT?opendocument&SKN=1 (accessed, March