Child labour: UN Global Compact challenged over tobacco industry practices

In an open letter, the STOP organization, together with 176 public health organizations and personalities from around the world, are calling for the revocation of the Foundation for the Eradication of Child Labor in Tobacco Cultivation (ECLT) as a participant in the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. The signatories denounce in particular the links between this foundation and the tobacco industry[1].

The Organization's Global Compact (UNGC) is an initiative launched by the United Nations to bring the business world into a sustainable development framework. The Global Compact, which is not legally binding, calls on companies to respect ten universal principles related to human rights, the environment and the fight against corruption, or to implement measures to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Clear links to the tobacco industry

As the open letter points out, the foundation is directly linked to the tobacco industry. The ECLT is in fact an alliance of tobacco manufacturers and producers. As such, the main tobacco multinationals are members of the foundation: British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris International (PMI) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI), as well as the International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA), an association of tobacco growers financed by the cigarette companies. According to evidence provided by the Oxysuisse association, the foundation actually pursues the objective of promoting the interests of the tobacco industry.

Using child labor as a public relations lever

ECLT is being used as a public relations tool by the tobacco industry, which uses the foundation as a guarantee of its social responsibility, with the aim of “gaining political support and weakening opposition.” This corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is problematic on several levels. First, as an indirect advertising vehicle for tobacco, CSR is prohibited by the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention (FCTC). Second, the foundation helps to create the impression of the tobacco industry’s commitment to combating child labor, while creating the conditions that force farmers to use this type of labor. British American Tobacco (BAT), the founder of ECLT, is currently being prosecuted for profiting from the widespread use of illegal child labor. In Malawi, the unpaid work of 80,000 children has also provided a significant economic advantage to the tobacco industry. Finally, ECLT promotes ineffective programs to combat child labor. For the signatories of the open letter, this situation could be avoided by establishing fair remuneration for tobacco leaf producers.

Industry interests incompatible with those of the UN Global Compact

This request for exclusion is also justified by the official texts of the Global Compact itself. In 2017, the UNGC updated its policy, declaring that it excluded tobacco production and manufacturing companies. For the signatories of the letter, the ECLT's participation in the Global Compact has the sole objective of endorsing the practices of the tobacco industry and absolving it of its responsibility, while its interests are "irreconcilable with those of human rights and sustainable development". As such, other United Nations agencies have already refused or ended their partnerships with the ECLT. Thus, following an open letter from more than 100 civil society organizations, the International Labor Organization (ILO) ended its funding partnership with the foundation.

For all these reasons, the 177 organizations call on the UN Global Compact to "act in accordance with its mandate, practice good governance and align its policies with those of UN agencies, international organizations and Member States that are consistent with Article 5.3 of the FCTC, and work to protect political, health and sustainable development goals, by refusing partnerships and interactions with the tobacco industry and its allies, and by ending ECLT's participation in the UN Global Compact."

[1] STOP, Letter to the United Nations Global Compact: Remove ECLT as a Participant, 04/30/2021, (accessed 05/03/2021)