Human and workers’ rights

The beauty and personal care sectors increasingly rely on natural raw materials. Many of these sectors’ distinctive ingredients are botanicals such as citrus, flowers, herbs, spices. A recent study by UEBT called Sourcing botanicals with respect for people and biodiversity, shows that such botanicals are important for local livelihoods of tens of thousands of small farmers. 

However, the study also shows that revenues do not offer farmers decent living conditions. Some supply chains even face challenges for businesses to respect human rights, with some reported cases of child work. Based on more than 100 field assessments of botanicals (that include confidential interviews with rights holders – workers, pickers, community members - as part of each assessment), the report found challenges to achieving just remuneration to be one of the top three potential risks.  Specifically, minimum wage equivalents are often not met when prices are paid to pickers or farmers, and few actions are seen to move towards living wages.  

The cultivation of botanicals is often carried out by small holders who lack the political or economic power to influence supply chains in such a way as to secure fair sourcing arrangements.  In addition, benefits have often been for large scale operations downstream in the supply chain and not for small producers and workers, including the tens of thousands of women who often pick or collect these raw materials.   

UEBT standard - human and workers’ rights

The UEBT standard includes requirements on human rights, including child rights in alignment with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It includes requirements aligned with human and workers’ rights following core International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions such as:

• Freedom of Association

• Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining

• Child Labour, Forced Labour; and Minimum Age of Work

• Equal Remuneration

• Anti-Discrimination

• Occupational Safety and Health

UEBT membership and human rights

When companies seek to become UEBT members, they make five commitments related to sourcing, and share whether they meet six minimum requirements from the UEBT standard.  The six minimum requirements are checked at the level of the company (not for suppliers or in supply chains).  Among those six requirements are three focused on social issues: 

• no evidence of ongoing or unresolved human rights infringement within the member company

• minimum age for employment is 15 years or higher if defined by national law 

• wages of workers are paid at least in line with official minimum wage regulations or collective bargaining agreements. 

In addition, UEBT member companies commit to monitoring and managing risks for people and biodiversity beyond the company and into and along supply chains, including through due diligence on cultivation and wild collection practices for ingredients from biodiversity. Companies also need to respond to growing due diligence policies around the world and UEBT supports companies with practical due diligence tools to identify and manage natural raw material supply chain risks. Due diligence consists of several components, including assessing risks in supply chains and action to prevent or mitigate such risks.