The tobacco industry: an obstacle to the elimination of child labour

In a recent report[1], STOP (Stopping Tobacco Organizations and Products), a global tobacco industry watchdog, exposes the devastating consequences of child labor in the tobacco industry and exposes the methods the tobacco industry uses to avoid responsibility for the problem.

Extent and severity of child labour in the tobacco sector

Child labor in tobacco has been labeled as one of the “worst forms of child labor” due to its hazardous nature. There is ample evidence and research that children under the age of 14 are working in tobacco fields in several countries around the world. It is estimated that 1.3 million children[2] work in tobacco production, particularly in tobacco growing. Taken out of school at a young age because of this work, these children do not benefit from a full education and their future is considerably compromised. According to the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), child labour in the tobacco sector should be prohibited in the same way as forced labour and the commercial exploitation of children (prostitution and pornography).[3].

The many risks to child health and development

Children working in tobacco fields face many health threats. They are at risk of nicotine poisoning and are exposed to harmful pesticides. Nicotine poisoning[4] results in symptoms such as insomnia, dizziness, headaches, dehydration, fatigue, nausea and vomiting caused by the absorption of nicotine through the skin when handling tobacco (green tobacco sickness). Due to long durations of exposure to chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fumigants and growth inhibitors, children are at high risk of developing serious diseases such as cancers, infertility, psychological imbalances, immune system dysfunction and neurological damage.[5]-[6]-[7].

Working conditions are poor and grueling for all farmers, but particularly for children who can develop musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive manual work and carrying heavy loads.[8].

Tobacco industry actions perpetuate child labor in the fields

Tobacco companies play a significant role in deliberately keeping tobacco farmers in precarious situations, requiring them to solicit their children for unpaid work.[9], to meet their needs. Tobacco manufacturers determine the level of wages paid to tobacco growers and control the wages paid by suppliers or subcontractors. The companies keep these wages low and promote loans to farmers who find themselves tied or even dependent[10]. Families working in the tobacco fields are then trapped in generational poverty. Tobacco companies deny tobacco farmers the right to organize and refuse to accept unions in bargaining, leading to a lack of collective agreements and undermining freedom of association.[11]-[12]-[13]. They use front groups and partner with well-known organizations to lobby against tobacco control measures, undermining the diversification strategies that have been implemented. Very often, living and working conditions in tobacco fields are very poor. Access to drinking water is limited, housing is precarious. These working conditions are also characterized by the massive use of dangerous agrochemicals.[14], almost non-existent protections for health and safety at work[15]The soils where families work and live are particularly polluted.

Finally, manufacturers are seeking to avoid responsibility for their actions by any means. Recently, a collective of farmers in Malawi sued British American Tobacco (BAT) and Imperial Brands, both based in the United Kingdom, for damages resulting from child labor. The tobacco companies attempted to invalidate the complaint on the grounds that “lawyers for the farming families cannot prove that the tobacco they grew was intended for them.”[16]

Tobacco Industry CSR in Child Labor: An Inherent Contradiction

Tobacco manufacturers regularly communicate to highlight their commitment to the fight against child labor.[17]-[18]-[19]-[20]To do this, they rely on self-declarations about their farming practices, supply chain audits, and child labor initiatives, which are primarily drawn from the documents of the Foundation for the Elimination of Child Labor in Tobacco Farming, a tobacco industry-funded organization.[21].

These statements are therefore essentially a public relations strategy to improve their image and mask the manufacturers' ongoing opposition to addressing the problem of tobacco growing and child labour. Indeed, the measures are known. These include implementing ILO strategies to address decent work deficits in the tobacco sector, including by promoting social dialogue with farmers and combating child labour, which requires a transition to alternative livelihoods, and also deploying the policy options and recommendations of the WHO Framework Convention (FCTC) on economically viable alternatives to tobacco growing (in relation to Articles 17 and 18 of the FCTC).[22]-[23]. This primarily requires diversification policies and programs that are focused on farmers and workers, sustainably financed and protected from tobacco industry interference.

To prevent the adoption of these provisions, tobacco companies are lobbying and influencing the development of tobacco control policies, exaggerating their contribution to the economy and using front groups that defend their interests.[24].

Recommendations from children's rights advocates and anti-smoking experts

ILO and UNICEF, in a joint report of June 2021 “Child labour, global estimates 2020, trends and the way forward”[25], issue several recommendations to end child labor worldwide, including:

• Support economic diversification, by investing in essential service infrastructure, expanding social protection and promoting these reconversion policies;
• Ensure that the necessary legislation to protect children is in place and is enforced;
• Strengthen social dialogue between governments, employers' and workers' organizations, which is essential for developing relevant and needs-based policies to combat child labor;
• Building on the Sustainable Development Goals: Significant progress has been made towards achieving target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls on all countries to “ensure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour…and by 2025, end child labour in all its forms.” The SDGs ultimately contribute to the implementation of both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the ILO Convention on the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

Tobacco control experts also agree that all agencies/bodies working for human rights should not be funded by the tobacco industry.[26]-[27] as has long been the case for the ILO. The latter has been committed since 2019 to refusing any funding from tobacco manufacturers, following strong pressure from civil society.[28] One notable exception remains and is likely to disappear: the acceptance of membership by the tobacco industry-funded Foundation for the Elimination of Child Labor in Tobacco Farming (ECLT).[29]-[30], to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). More than 170 civil society organisations have now called on the UNGC to end its involvement in ELCT[31]. The ECLT is in fact used as a foil by the tobacco industry for its CSR campaigns. It does not support the measures mentioned specifically to put an end to child labour: after nearly two decades of work by this foundation, child labour remains entrenched in many tobacco-producing regions.[32].

Keywords: Human rights, children's rights, child labour, forced labour, tobacco industry, tobacco cultivation   Photo credit: ©Oliver Reinhardt - Unfair tobacco ©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] STOP, The Tobacco Industry: A Hindrance to the Elimination of Child Labor, June 15, 2021, accessed June 17, 2021 [2] Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016. International Labor Organization (September 19, 2017). https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_575499/lang--en/index.htm [3] The worst forms of child labor, ILO [4] McKnight, RH, and Spiller, HA. Green tobacco sickness in children and adolescents. Public Health Rep 2005;120(6):602-605. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1497768/ [5] Pesticides On Tobacco - Federal Activities to Assess Risks and Monitor Residues. United States General Accounting Office; GAO-03-485 (March 2003). Available at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-03-485.pdf [6] Tobacco's Hidden Children-Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming. Human Rights Watch (May 13, 2014). Available at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labour-united-states-tobacco-farming [7] Riquinho DL, Hennington EA. Health, environment and working conditions in tobacco cultivation: a review of the literature. Cien Saude Colet. 2012 Jun;17(6):1587-600. PMID: 22699649. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22699649/ [8] Tobacco's Hidden Children-Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming. Human Rights Watch (May 13, 2014). Available at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/05/13/tobaccos-hidden-children/hazardous-child-labour-united-states-tobacco-farming [9] Child Labor in Global Tobacco Production: A Human Rights Approach to an Enduring Dilemma. Athena K. Ramos. Health and Human Rights Journal (August 7, 2018). Available at: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2018/08/child-labour-in-global-tobacco-production-a-human-rights-approach-to-an-enduring-dilemma/ [10] Margaret Wurth. Tobacco's Children. Brazil Sets an Example for the US The Progressive (November 3, 2015). Available at: https://progressive.org/magazine/tobacco-s-children.-brazil-sets-example-us/ [11] Tobacco and Allied Farmers Workers' Union Malawi, Tobacco workers to ILO: Quit Tobacco Industry. Unfair Tobacco (September 29, 2017). Available at: https://www.unfairtobacco.org/en/tobacco-workers-to-ilo-quit-tobacco-industry/#/ [12] Peres, J. and Neto, M. Roucos E Sufocados- Tobacco Industry Lives and Kills. Available at: https://actbr.org.br/uploads/arquivos/Suma%CC%81rio_Roucos_Ingles.pdf [13] Tobacco and Allied Farmers Workers' Union Malawi, Tobacco workers to ILO: Quit Tobacco Industry. Unfair Tobacco (September 29, 2017). Available at: https://www.unfairtobacco.org/en/tobacco-workers-to-ilo-quit-tobacco-industry/#/ [14] Lecours N, Almeida GEG, Abdallah JM, et al. Environmental health impacts of tobacco farming: a review of the literature. Tobacco Control (February 2012);21:191-196. Available at: https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/21/2/191 [15] Child Labor in Global Tobacco Production: A Human Rights Approach to an Enduring Dilemma. Athena K. Ramos. Health and Human Rights Journal (August 7, 2018). Available at: https://www.hhrjournal.org/2018/08/child-labour-in-global-tobacco-production-a-human-rights-approach-to-an-enduring-dilemma/ [16] Tobacco Free Generation, Two tobacco giants accused of forced labor by Malawian farmers and children, May 20, 2021, accessed June 17, 2021 [17] Sustainable supply chain management - Progress in 2019. Philip Morris International. Available at: https://www.pmi.com/integrated-report-2019/operating-with-excellence/sustainable-supply-chain-management---progress-2019 [18] Sustainable Tobacco Program. British American Tobacco. Available at: https://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DEEBL [19] Sustainability – Respecting Human Rights. Japan Tobacco. Available at: https://www.jt.com/sustainability/human_rights/index.html [20] BAT Human rights reports 2020 https://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__9D9KCY.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO964UGU/$file/BAT_Human_Rights_Report_2020.pdf [21] Eliminating Child Labor in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT), Tobacco Tactics, last updated June 14, 2021, accessed June 17, 2021 [22] Policy options and recommendations on economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing (in relation to Articles 17 and 18). Conference of the Parties, sixth session and WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control decision; FCTC/COP6(11) (2014). Available at: https://www.who.int/fctc/treaty_instruments/Recommendations_Articles_17_18_English. pdf?ua=1%22 [23] Economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing (in relation to Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO FCTC). Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; seventh session; FCTC/COP7(10) (12 November 2016). Available at: https://www.who.int/fctc/cop/cop7/FCTC_COP7(10)_EN.pdf?ua=1 [24] Warner, Kenneth. (2000). The Economics of Tobacco: Myths and Realities. Tobacco control. 9. 78-89. 10.1136/tc.9.1.78. Available at: https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/tobaccocontrol/9/1/78.full.pdf [25] UNICEF/ILO joint publication, Child Labor: Global estimates 2020, trends and the road forward, June 2021 [26] Mary Assunta, To End Child Labour, the UN Must Cut Ties with Tobacco Industry, Health Policy Watch, June 14, 2021, accessed June 18, 2021 [27] Mary Assunta, Ending child labor in tobacco production by 2025: the tobacco industry is the problem, not part of the solution, British Medical Journal Blog, June 12, 2018, accessed June 18, 2021 [28] Alice Grainger Gasser, World: International Labor Organization (ILO) ends tobacco industry funding, British Medical Journal Blog, December 1, 2019, accessed June 18, 2021 [29] ECLT, Annual Report 2002, undated, accessed September 2019 [30] Otanez MG, Muggli ME, Hurt RD and SA Glantz, Eliminating child labor in Malawi: a British American Tobacco corporate responsibility project to sidestep tobacco labor exploitation, Tobacco Control 2006;15:224-230 [31] STOP, Letter to the United Nations Global Compact: Remove ECLT as a Participant, April 30, 2021, accessed June 18, 2021 [32] Tobacco Tactics, Eliminating Child Labor in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT), Last updated June 14, 2021, accessed June 18, 2021  

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