"US suspends Malawi tobacco imports after child labour allegations", 3 November 2019

The US government has suspended all imports of tobacco from Malawi over child labour allegations.

The ban follows the news that human rights lawyers are to bring a case against British American Tobacco (BAT)_in the high court in London over child labour in Malawi’s tobacco fields...Leigh Day are acting for nearly 2,000 claimants – children and their parents – and expect that up to 15,000 will join the case.

US Customs and Border Protection...issued a Withhold Release order on tobacco from Malawi, meaning shipments arriving in the United States will be detained at the port of entry. Importers will have to prove the tobacco is not produced with labour prohibited under US law to have the shipment released...

...Customs and Border Protection said it had issued the order based on information collected by the agency that reasonably indicated the tobacco from Malawi was produced using forced labour and forced child labour....