[Intl-tobacco] Take Action on BAT/Burma

[Robert Weissman]

Dear FCA friendsPlease see this campaign on Burma and excellent
reporting in the Financial Times and GuardianThere is an action page
where you can put views to BAT... please support the Burma Campaign's
efforts to have BAT ousted from
Burma....http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/action.html RegardsClive-------

Clarke facing embarrassment over Burma link - Financial Times

By Alison Maitland and Jean Eaglesham
Published: November 12 2002 4:00

Kenneth Clarke, former chancellor and deputy chairman of British
American Tobacco, faces severe embarrassment today over revelations that
he criticised companies investing in Burma - where BAT has a joint
venture with the military junta.

Mr Clarke, who chairs the BAT board's corporate social responsibility
committee, said in a letter to a constituent: "I must admit that I do
sometimes feel uncomfortable about investment in that country . . .
Theproblem in Burma arises when companies start collaborating with an
extremely unpleasant regime which is totally contrary to our notions of
civil liberties and democracy."
Last night, however, Mr Clarke issued a statement rejecting calls for
BAT to withdraw from the venture.
The letter was obtained by the Burma Campaign UK, a leading human rights
pressure group, which today launches a worldwide campaign to force BAT
to withdraw. John Jackson, director of the pressure group, said: "Ken
Clarke is absolutely right. He should get them to pull out
immediately."
Mr Clarke's letter appears to be in contradiction with BAT's policy,
made clear in its first "social report" in July, to press on with the
60-40 per cent joint venture between its Rothmans subsidiary and Union
of Myanmar Economic Holdings, an organisation owned by the Burmese
military regime.
BAT said Mr Clarke had not forgotten about the Burma investment when
writing the letter. It issued a statement from Mr Clarke recalling that
the Burma business was inherited in the merger with Rothmans
International in 1999.
Mr Clarke said: "An international company cannot reform the politics of
the government of any country in which it does business. We employ more
than 400 people in Burma and I see no benefit to them in us simply
pulling out."
The Burma Campaign, supported by the Federation of Trade Unions of
Burma, Unison, Glenys Kinnock and Lord (formerly Sir David) Steel, said
it would take just six minutes' worth of BAT's annual profits to give
its workers in Burma a year's salary as severance pay.
It points out the opposition of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's democracy
leader, to any investment until there is political change. It says the
industrial zone where the cigarette factory is located was upgraded by
the military authorities in 1996 using child labour.
The campaign will ask leading investment funds, including Hermes,
Insight Investment, Morley and Jupiter, to use their influence to
persuade BAT to pull out.
Vincent Cable, Liberal Democrat trade and industry spokesman, claimed Mr
Clarke was "risking his reputation for being forthright and honest" by
advocating withdrawal of investment from Burma while representing a
company doing the opposite.
However, Mr Clarke said on BBC's Newsnight last night : "I don't think
companies can have a rule about not doing business with dictatorships."
He added that "probably about a third of the world" was governed by
dictatorships.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1035873208550&p=1012571727159 Clarke
in fresh row over Burma links - The
Independenthttp://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=351346Clarke
embarrassed as attack on Burma goes up in
smokehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/smoking/Story/0,2763,838279,00.html