Human Rights
Our Corporate Responsibility Policy commits us to behave ethically in all our business activities and to respect the people and communities where we operate.
Syngenta is committed to uphold the principles set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization’s Core Conventions. These include the freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining, equal remuneration and minimum age. The core conventions forbid practices such as discrimination, child labor, bonded labor and slavery. This commitment underlies our actions in the area of child labor.
Our Code of Conduct sets out our commitment to the highest standards of fair labor practice. We monitor compliance with the Code of Conduct through our compliance hotline and a Letter of Assurance process.
High standards of health, safety, environment and labor practices are a priority for Syngenta – in our own operations and in those of our suppliers.
Syngenta is working with suppliers to ensure they meet our HSE and labor standards through our supplier qualification procedures and audits.
Child Labor
The use of child labor has been recognized as an issue on farms, especially in developing countries. This is often part of a broader socio-economic problem particularly in rural areas with high levels of poverty and little opportunity for education or employment.
Syngenta does not employ individuals under the age of sixteen except as permitted by law and under circumstances that protect their welfare. Our contracts with seed producers clearly forbid the use of child labor and state that it will result in the termination of their contract.
Child labor on seed farms – particularly cottonseed – in India was highlighted by NGOs in 2003. We have been working with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) since 2004 to address this issue. See more on our partnership with the FLA.
Syngenta no longer produces cottonseed in India. We continue to support the Child Labor Eradication Group – an industry task force formed by India’s Association of Seed Industry and the non-governmental organization MV Foundation of Andhra Pradesh – that works to eradicate child labor in cottonseed production.
