British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is the first major tobacco company to publish a so-called Human Rights Report, which is aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Framework. The report highlights the company's commitment and actions to protect human rights across its global business and supply chain. BAT also announced a commitment to aim for zero child labor in its agricultural supply chain by 2025.
The report highlights the extensive measures BAT takes to promote, uphold, and protect the human rights across its extensive supply chain, which includes 90,000 directly contracted farmers. The report also features case studies to showcase partnerships and activities aimed at improving farmer livelihoods and securing the long-term sustainability of rural communities.
The report also highlights many of the initiatives the company has adopted to address the pandemic including: developing a potential Covid-19 vaccine candidate; producing and distributing protective equipment and sanitizer; providing financial support to suppliers where required; and ensuring access to Covid-secure workplaces for workers throughout our supply chain
“We recognize that forced labor is a serious risk in agricultural supply chains and I am proud that we had zero reported cases of forced labor in 2019,” said Jack Bowles, c.e.o, of BAT. “We adopt a zero-tolerance approach to forced labor whilst having a clear commitment to aim for our tobacco supply chain to also be free of child labor by 2025."
The report can be downloaded from www.bat.com/humanrightsreport