BAT and Imperial will on Wednesday ask the high court in London to dismiss watershed proceedings<\/p>\n
Last modified on Wed 19 May 2021 01.01 EDT<\/p>\n
Two of the world\u2019s biggest tobacco companies are to ask the high court in London on Wednesday to strike out a case against them alleging the exploitation of Malawian farmers and their children as a result of their drive for profits.<\/p>\n
British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands, both based in the UK, deny the allegations. They are asking that the case be dismissed on the grounds that lawyers for the farming families cannot prove the tobacco they grew ended up in their cigarettes and other products.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The watershed case was brought after investigations by the Guardian into child labour in the tobacco fields. Families are trafficked from southern Malawi, allege Leigh Day solicitors, their lawyers, to tobacco-growing regions in the north. Once there, they have to build their own homes from branches and leaves and work seven days a week in the fields. They receive a small portion of maize each day to feed their family and live largely by borrowing money until harvest time at the end of the season, when they are paid for the crop. Loans and the costs of farming supplies are deducted and some end up in debt.<\/p>\n
The lawyers argue their conditions of work breach the definition of forced labour, unlawful compulsory labour and exploitation under Malawian law. They also say that they breach the UK Modern Slavery Act, article 14 of the European convention on human rights and the International Labour Organization definition of forced labour.<\/p>\n
Several thousand of Malawi\u2019s poorest tobacco tenant farmers have joined the claim. They sell all their crop to a leaf-buying company in Malawi, which they say supplies BAT and Imperial.<\/p>\n
Leigh Day, the London-based firm representing thousands of Malawian farming families, says BAT and Imperial want proof that the families\u2019 tobacco ended up in their products. But the companies have refused to disclose documents they hold which will show whether their tobacco is sourced from the specific families bringing the claim.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Imperial said: \u201cIt would be inappropriate to comment on this ongoing litigation, other than to reiterate that we will defend the claim.\u201d<\/p>\n
A BAT spokesperson said: \u201cBAT believes that there is no legal or factual basis to bring these claims, therefore BAT has made an application for the claims to be struck out or stayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are unable to provide further comment ahead of the hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martyn Day, senior partner at Leigh Day, said: \u201cThe heart of the claim is that two of the largest tobacco companies in the world cynically exploited impoverished tobacco farmers from Malawi and their children.<\/p>\n
\u201cFortunately the two defendant companies are based here in Britain giving our courts jurisdiction to adjudicate these claims.\u201d He said he was optimistic the judge would allow the claims to progress toward a full trial.<\/p>\n