The Child Labor Coalition, a 34-member group that fights exploitative child labor, today applauded Philip Morris International's announcement that it will no longer purchase tobacco from individual farmers but through third-party leaf supply companies that will require growers to abide by Philip Morris’s child labor policy, which prohibits hazardous tobacco work for workers under 18.

“We’re encouraged that one of the 10 largest tobacco companies has taken this step,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League and co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition (CLC).

“Much work remains to be done to ensure that Philip Morris’s child labor policies are implemented properly in the field and we think an outright ban of child work on American tobacco farms would be more protective, but this is an important step in the right direction and we applaud them for it.”

Federal law allows children 12 and older to work on farms for unlimited hours, as long as there is no conflict with school, the coalition. There is no minimum age for children who work on small farms, and the children of farm owners are exempt from any protections when working on their parents’ farms.

In May, Human Rights Watch researchers released a report, “Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming,” which found that a majority of more than 140 child tobacco workers interviewed has experienced nicotine poisoning while working in U.S. fields.

▪ Philip Morris International Inc. Announces New U.S. Tobacco Purchasing Model ▪ — Eliminating Child Labor ▪ Human Rights Watch — Tobacco’s Hidden Children ▪ — Summary ▪ Child Labor Coalition