Unilever's response to alleged human rights violations in the tea supply chain - September 2023
We are grateful for the opportunity to respond to reports of alleged human rights violations within our tea supply chain.
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We continue to believe that collaboration across the industry is critical to address these issues, such as through the Ethical Tea Partnership. Tea is a priority crop in our commitment to ensure workers earn at least a living wage or income in global supply chains. In turn, this will help to improve working conditions and raise living standards.
Unilever's Responsible Partner Policy mandates that all business partners have in place a Code of Conduct or Responsible Sourcing Policy for their own supply chain. There is a process to communicate this throughout the supply chain and to monitor compliance. Tea certification also helps to ensure that human and labour rights are met. We continue to support the increased certification within our value chain.
Unilever is taking proactive responsibility on the health and wellbeing of our plantation workers through nutrition and women safety partnership program me s.
These social impact programmes are live examples of sectoral changes in making tea a truly sustainable sector. It is key that we create a positive impact for people whose livelihoods depend on tea.
For example, we are working with partners to improve diet diversity and access to nutritious foods in tea producing communities in Assam covering 160 ,000 workers across tea estates
Here is a link to Unilever’s Tea Suppliers list, that ensures we are being transparent.
Full response available below.