We demand Nestle and British American Tobacco who are sourcing their products from Tampaco Foils Ltd located in Tongi BSCIC Industrial Area, Bangladesh to immediately address their supply chain responsibilities, apologize and pay compensation immediately to the victims and their families.

A total of 42 people lost their lives due to a tragic fire accident at Tampaco Foils Limited on 10 September 2016. 40 workers were injured seriously and 10 workers are still missing (Press Report on 26 October, The Daily Prothom Alo, Dhaka). Primary findings show that, the fire was caused due to an explosion of the boiler in the factory but until now the causes of explosion have not been identified. Further the structure of the building from which the factory was operating from was completely unsuitable for industrial production. In addition, the building was cramped, full of flammable materials and had only one exit.

Nestle states that it will “Implement responsible sourcing in our supply chain” as one of its 39 commitments it pledges to meet. This includes ensuring that procurement of ingredients complies with their Responsible Sourcing Guidelines Criteria. British American Tobacco has a “Supplier Code of Conduct” and a process of selection so that, their suppliers comply with all international, national and local regulations for environmental performance, safety and occupational health provisions.

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Despite these policies and procedures in place, grave violations happened. It seems that the lessons have not been learnt after the devastating fire at the Tazreen Fashions and the Rana Plaza building collapse and companies like Nestle and British American Tobacco are ignoring health and safety regulations among their suppliers particularly in low income countries like Bangladesh.

Therefore, Nestle and British American Tobacco company, with well-advertised CSR and Health &Safety Policies, should take the lead role in addressing the accident at Tampaco and come forward to compensate the victims.  

We demand that Nestle and British American Tobacco management to:

1. Ensure that the Tampaco accident victims, survivors and their families receive just and immediate compensation with an appropriate payment settlement mechanism;
2. Ensure immediate and long term medical treatment support and rehabilitation needs for the injured workers and affected families at Tampaco;
3. To issue a public statement covering company’s business accountability in relation to this specific accident;
4. Ensure immediate and long term action towards ensuring workplace safety and other labour rights at your entire business supply chain especially in Bangladesh.

We further demand the other relevant multinational companies to settle the compensation with Tampaco accident survivors & victims follow the same principle as the payment settlement mechanism followed by international fashion brands in the case of Rana Plaza Tragedy victims in Bangladesh.

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