A Better Tomorrow™, Together: The Way We Work With Suppliers

 
 
 

Our Suppliers are valued business partners, and we believe, by working together, we can raise standards, drive sustainable practices, create shared value and build A Better Tomorrow™ for all.

Commitment to Integrity

Our actions must always be lawful. Having integrity goes further. It means our actions, behaviours and how we do business must be responsible, honest, sincere and trustworthy. We are committed to upholding our contractual obligations with Suppliers and to treat them fairly.

Suppliers should expect clear and constructive engagement from BAT, and to be treated in a professional and inclusive manner, with dignity and respect, in accordance with the Group SoBC.

If a Supplier has a grievance or concern regarding the behaviour of a BAT Employee, acting contrary to the Group SoBC, this should be reported to BAT: see Contacting the Group on the following page and Speaking Up in the Compliance section.

Quick Links
  • Striving for Best Practice
  • Supporting Suppliers
  • BAT's ESG Priorities
 

Striving for Best Practice

While this Code sets out the minimum standards we expect of our Suppliers, we encourage them to strive for best practice and continuous improvement within their own operations and supply chains.

To this end, we seek to give preference to Suppliers that demonstrate best practice and strong performance against the Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities.

This is reflected in our Supplier programmes, including (but not limited to):

  • the industry-wide Sustainable Tobacco Programme for our tobacco leaf Suppliers, which includes a wide range of ESG criteria – from labour and human rights to climate change and biodiversity; and
  • our supply chain due diligence programmes for non-tobacco Suppliers, which includes human rights risk assessments and independent labour audits, and are aligned to international standards.
 

Supporting Suppliers

We recognise the different circumstances of our Suppliers worldwide, and that some will face legitimate challenges in immediately meeting every facet of this Code.

As our ultimate goal is to drive the continuous improvement of standards within our supply chain, we are committed to working with such Suppliers over time, to help them achieve adherence with the requirements of this Code.

By working together, allowing Suppliers to benefit from our resources and experience, we aim to increase awareness and capacity, and help our Suppliers improve and achieve best practice standards.

 

 

BAT's ESG Priorities

Details of the Group’s ESG priorities can be found in our latest Combined Annual and ESG Report, available at: www.bat.com/ESGReport 

 

Contacting the Group