Human rights
Promoting, protecting, and continuously working to embed human rights considerations into strategy, policies, and business practices is not just the right thing to do; it also helps anticipate current and emerging legal requirements and minimizes financial exposure and the risk of supply chain disruptions. It creates the basic environment and conditions in which our business can thrive and create value, by recognizing, respecting, and protecting our right holders, including our employees and workers across our value chain.
Protecting and promoting the rights of our stakeholders is paramount and PMI, including Swedish Match, is committed to business practices that respect internationally recognized human rights and upholds the principles as enshrined in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as expressed in the Human Rights Commitment of PMI, available on www.pmi.com.
Considering the complexity, wide-scale, and diversified nature of our respective supply chains, Swedish Match is expected to integrate into PMI’s supply chain-related sustainability data reporting where material by 2026. Meanwhile, sustainable policies and practices in place prior to the acquisition continued to apply in Swedish Match’s supply chain during the year. Concretely, during 2024 Swedish Match continued to ensure that suppliers adhere to the Supplier Code of Conduct of Swedish Match. More specifically, with regard to due diligence in the smoke-free tobacco supply chain, Swedish Match continues to be part of the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP), an industry-wide initiative developed by tobacco manufacturers designed to assure standards in agricultural practices, environmental management, and key social and human rights. As part of the STP due diligence cycle, all suppliers perform self-assessment on an annual basis. Suppliers are asked to specify their commitment and procedures, and report quantitative measures to show impact. The selfassessment results are then validated by the STP Secretariat. Based on the generic risk screening and selfassessment validation results, a list of prioritized countries, suppliers and tobacco types are identified for an in-depth assessment. During 2024, in-depth assessments were conducted in South Africa, Guatemala, and Thailand. As a result, all assessed suppliers now have action plans in place based on the findings to improve their sustainability efforts. As integration progresses, Swedish Match will work to expand PMI’s existing stringent due diligence programs to Swedish Match’s supply chain.
Until the integration is finalized, in those areas where full integration into PMI’s global sustainability structure has not been completed, Swedish Match will continue to uphold to its current policies and goals.
In particular, Swedish Match respects universal human rights and support internationally proclaimed human rights conventions and guidelines. Swedish Match recognizes the role played in respecting these rights and in making sure that they are upheld for the people impacted by our business, in the areas from which we source materials. Elimination of child labor is the center of focus in our efforts. Swedish Match does not accept child labor anywhere in our supply chain. We respect the rights of the child, including the right to education, the right to rest and play and the right to have the child’s basic needs met, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Minimum age of employment
Swedish Match complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and Employment. The minimum age for work should not be lower than the age for completing compulsory schooling, which is generally 15 years, or 14 years in accordance with the exceptions for developing countries. Where the relevant national legislation specifies a higher age, that age shall apply. - Swedish Match’s Supplier Code of Conduct
Swedish Match’s Supplier Code of Conduct specifies what is expected and required from suppliers in terms of employment and labor practices, workplace practices, ethical business practices and environmental management practices. Requirements are based on and comply with international conventions and guidelines. The Supplier Code of Conduct forms the basis for the relationship between Swedish Match and its suppliers and is an integral part of most of our significant business agreements. - Direct material other than raw tobacco
For direct materials other than raw tobacco Swedish Match continues to rely on its own due diligence programs to monitor adherence to the Supplier Code of Conduct. The due diligence primarily covers primary suppliers. The primary suppliers are continuously screened for compliance and risk in relation to ethical business practices, employment and labor practices, including child labor. In addition to this, Swedish Match encourages its suppliers to develop their own supplier standards and monitoring procedures.
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Very late in December 2024, media informed Swedish Match of allegations of labour rights violations against one of its suppliers. Despite multiple requests for further details that would have aided an investigation, no details were shared until the allegations were broadcast in Swedish media. The supplier subsequently confirmed that the facility featured in the broadcast does not supply Swedish Match and that the supplier is investigating the allegations further; Swedish Match expects the supplier’s investigation to end with a report in early 2025. While the allegations do not appear to relate to Swedish Match’s supply chain, both Swedish Match and PMI take these issues extremely seriously and will be developing an action plan, together with the supplier, to provide additional assurance that all its supplies to Swedish Match and PMI companies meet our very high standards for responsible sourcing.
For more information, please refer to PMI’s Integrated Report.
