Trinidad & Tobago 2004/05 - British American Tobacco

“Socratic Dialogue” 

“…a collective attempt to fi nd the answer 

to a fundamental question. 

The question is the centre of the dialogue.”

“Social Reporting" 

…an open dialogue with stakeholders 

…listening and responding to their expectations 

…reporting and delivering on commitments

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1.0 ABOUT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 

1.1 Foreword 6 

1.2 Perspectives on our Social Report 8 

1.3 Stakeholder Engagement – The Heart of this Report 10 

2.0 ABOUT WEST INDIAN TOBACCO 

2.1 The West Indian Tobacco Company Limited 20 

3.0 STAKEHOLDERS' EXPECTATIONS AND OUR COMMITMENTS 

3.1 Underage Smoking Prevention 25 

3.2 Contributing to Society 29 

3.3 Marketing Practices 32 

3.4 Consumer Information 34 

3.5 Health Issues 35 

3.6 Protection for Non-smokers 40 

3.7 Health and Safety in the Workplace 44 

3.8 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) 45 

3.9 Can a Tobacco Company be ‘Socially Responsible’? 47 

3.10 Other Expectations 48 

3.11 Being a Responsible Employer – Employee Issues 50 

4.0 OUR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY PERFORMANCE 

4.1 About GRI 59 

4.2 Our Performance against selected GRI Indicators 60 

5.0 VERIFICATION OF THIS REPORT 

5.1 The AA1000 Standard 69 

5.2 About Bureau Veritas 71 

5.3 Verification Statement 72 

6.0 LOOKING FORWARD 

6.1 Towards strengthening our reputation of Responsibility 79 

7.0 APPENDICES 

1 Summary of Deliverables 82 

2 The AA1000 Process Steps 91 

3 External Stakeholders - Invited and Attended 93 

4 Internal Stakeholders - Invited and Attended 96 

5 International Marketing Standards 97 

6 Glossary of Terms 99 

CONTENTS 

3

1.0 ABOUT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

FOREWORD 

MR G FRANCIS CARLOW 

CHAIRMAN 

6 

“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” 

…Alexander Hamilton 

STANDING BY OUR PRINCIPLES 

For all leading and successful companies, 

external demands are increasing. For West 

Indian Tobacco, operating in the controversial 

tobacco industry, these demands are particularly 

challenging. On one hand, we generate 

some $200 million in excise and corporate 

taxes to Government revenues. On the 

other, we recognize the risks associated with 

our products. Our industry is under scrutiny 

because of the nature of the business - not 

just from shareholders and trading partners, 

who obviously expect us to continue to 

deliver consistent growth in the value of their 

investment, and employees with regard to their 

job security, but also from other stakeholders in 

society, for example Government, customers, 

smokers and non-smokers. 

Delivering business results is important, 

but in the modern world, how a company 

makes its money and contributes positively to 

society is becoming equally important. As a 

successful Company that has existed for 100 

years in Trinidad and Tobago, we recognize 

our responsibility not only to shareholders 

and employees but also to the wider group 

representing our many stakeholders. We 

believe that it is important that we find ways to 

better align ourselves with the ever-changing 

social demands on our industry. This has led 

us to embrace a rigorous Social Reporting 

process of engaging in open dialogue with our 

stakeholders, including our critics, on what 

they expect from us as a responsible tobacco 

Company. In embarking on this journey, we 

have taken a significant step towards involving 

our stakeholders in influencing the way we do 

business. 

This does not mean that we now have all the 

answers. What it means is that we want to listen 

to and understand the many diverse concerns of 

our stakeholders in order to be better prepared 

to play our part in finding solutions to the 

challenges we face. One key step for us in this 

process of finding solutions has been to formalize

three core principles that will guide how we 

manage our business into the future. These 

Business Principles represent what we believe 

as a Company. They have guided us as we 

sought responses to the many concerns raised 

by our stakeholders during this Social Reporting 

process. They will guide us in how we behave 

and make our profits as we begin our second 

100 years of operations in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Our Principle of Mutual Benefit is the basis 

on which we build relationships with our 

stakeholders. Whilst our primary objective is to 

build long-term value for our shareholders, we 

must do this in a manner which also provides 

mutual benefit to our other key stakeholders, 

such as employees, business partners and 

suppliers and the communities within which we 

operate. In other words, we must achieve our 

profit not only without exploiting others but by 

positively contributing to the development of 

other stakeholders who interact with us. 

Our Principle of Responsible Product 

Stewardship recognizes the risks associated with 

our products. This Principle directs us to be 

responsible in selling such a product. We must 

market our products in a responsible manner, 

and thus we have voluntary constraints on the 

advertising and promotion of our products. We 

believe that smoking should be an informed 

adult choice and that children should not 

smoke; and we are prepared to play our role in 

addressing underage smoking. 

Our third Principle is that of Good Corporate 

Conduct. Put simply, we should be a model 

corporate citizen. Our employees should be 

universally respected for their standards of 

behaviour, integrity and business ethics. These 

standards can never be compromised even 

when we are under pressure to produce business 

results. 

These Business Principles represent our future 

as we seek to address societal expectations of a 

responsible tobacco company. As Chairman, I 

am committed to living by these Principles and I 

am confident that the actions of our employees 

will loudly demonstrate their own commitment. 

Along these lines, our Company also has four 

Guiding Principles which will help us shape the 

culture of our organization. They define who 

West Indian Tobacco is and what differentiates 

us. They are what we can call our 'Corporate 

DNA'. 

Our Guiding Principles are: 

• Strength from Diversity; 

• Open-mindedness; 

• Freedom through Responsibility; 

• Enterprising Spirit. 

These Guiding Principles apply to every 

employee in West Indian Tobacco, across all 

levels and functions, and act as a point of 

reference for every aspect of our working life, 

from communication to decision-making. 

While some people condemn smoking and they 

are entitled to their opinion, tobacco remains 

a legal product, and millions of people around 

the world choose to continue smoking with full 

knowledge of the health risks associated with it. 

This Social Report represents our attempt to 

build a collaborative environment to address 

key industry-related issues. We do not ask that 

you approve of tobacco or smoking; we simply 

ask that you continue to tell us what you expect 

from us. We are open to listen, review our 

actions and seek sensible solutions where we 

can, either by ourselves or in conjunction with 

other stakeholders, to properly address society’s 

concerns. 

This journey has been both difficult and 

rewarding, but more importantly, it has been 

necessary. Good corporate citizenship dictates 

that we must be prepared to listen to and 

address the issues surrounding our products. In 

this regard, I take this opportunity to thank the 

many stakeholders, including our employees, 

who have chosen to participate in our first four 

dialogue sessions. Without them, we could not 

have developed the understanding that we 

have today, of stakeholders' concerns. With 

understanding comes informed action. Our 

commitments are all clearly outlined in this 

Social Report. Throughout 2005 we will work 

hard at delivering on these commitments, 

knowing full well that at the end of the day, 

society will judge us not only on what we say, 

but on what we do. 

G Francis Carlow 

Chairman 

1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.1 

Foreword 

7

PERSPECTIVES ON OUR SOCIAL REPORT 

MR ANTHONY E PHILLIP 

MANAGING DIRECTOR 

8 

SOCIAL REPORTING – AN 

ENLIGHTENING EXPERIENCE 

Many companies today face increasing demands 

to be more transparent, to demonstrate good 

corporate conduct and to reassure stakeholders 

of good corporate governance practices. At 

West Indian Tobacco, as our business is about 

the manufacture and sale of tobacco products, 

we inevitably attract more attention and debate 

than others. 

In seeking to build long-term shareholder value 

by meeting consumers’ preferences for high 

quality tobacco products, we also acknowledge 

that our Company cannot operate in isolation 

from the expectations of a wider range of 

stakeholders. Indeed, given the controversial 

nature of our product, we must take steps to 

fully understand the views and expectations of 

our stakeholders as they relate to a responsible 

tobacco company. In fact, we firmly believe that 

in order to increase shareholders' returns, we 

must focus on three pillars - growth, productivity 

and responsibility. 

It is this focus on responsibility that has led us 

to pursue Social Reporting – a rigorous process 

of engaging face-to-face with stakeholders to 

understand their expectations of a responsible 

tobacco company and to respond with specific 

plans of action to those expectations and 

concerns. 

The Social Reporting process we have 

committed to is an exhaustive and soul- 

searching one. The first dialogue sessions 

which were held were dedicated to listening to 

our stakeholders’ views on the tobacco industry 

and West Indian Tobacco in particular, while the 

second dialogues were dedicated to responding 

to their concerns. This experience was 

extremely enlightening for the entire Executive 

Committee of West Indian Tobacco. At the end 

of it, we recognize that we do not have all the 

answers, but we do understand more clearly 

the role that stakeholders expect us to play in 

finding solutions to the challenges facing our 

business. 

One key lesson of this exercise is the fact that 

some of the initiatives that we have undertaken 

over the past few years, have been directly

aligned with stakeholders' expectations. Our 

involvement in sponsoring an Underage 

Smoking Prevention campaign which began 

in 2000, our voluntary implementation of 

International Marketing Standards in 2001 and 

the transfer of the WITCO Sports Foundation 

in 2004 to a new sponsor, are some examples 

of such alignment which we have found quite 

heartening. 

There are, however, other stakeholders' 

expectations that are more complex. Our first 

dialogue sessions with internal and external 

stakeholders, generated 86 expectations, 

spanning such categories as Health, Protection 

for Non-smokers, Social Programmes and 

Employee Welfare. In our dialogues, and in this 

Social Report, we have provided responses to 

every recorded expectation. Our approach has 

been to apply two main decision-making criteria 

to every expectation. These criteria are: 

1) Is the expectation aligned with our 

Business Principles which represent our 

core beliefs as a Company? 

2) Is the expectation within our Company’s 

sphere of responsibility? 

Where expectations are aligned with our 

beliefs and within our responsibility as a Public 

Company operating within Trinidad and 

Tobago, we have indicated the commitments 

that we are prepared to make to our 

stakeholders and to the wider society. In other 

cases we have explained our positions clearly 

and indicated instances in which we will be 

prepared to support the actions of others, where 

possible. 

This Social Report represents one year of effort 

focused on stakeholder engagement. I am 

grateful to Mrs Deborah Mendez-Bowen, the 

independent facilitator of the dialogue sessions, 

who effectively facilitated the process of better 

understanding what our stakeholders expect 

of us. I also note the thoroughness with which 

Bureau Veritas, the external auditors of the Social 

Reporting process, pursued their role. 

While we respect the views of those 

stakeholders who consciously declined to 

participate in this Social Reporting process, 

we will continue to solicit their views on what 

is a responsible tobacco company. Indeed it 

would be quite strange if the term ‘Corporate 

Social Responsibility’ applied only to popular 

businesses. We will continue to work towards 

engaging with all of our stakeholders because it 

is only by balancing the needs of all stakeholders 

that we will continue to build a sustainable 

business in today’s challenging environment. 

In 2004, the Government of Trinidad and 

Tobago announced its ratification of the 

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. I 

think it is important that I explain the position 

of West Indian Tobacco in relation to this 

issue. We support sensible tobacco regulation 

in Trinidad and Tobago. We believe that the 

impact of tobacco on public health should 

be reduced and we respect the role that 

Government must play in bringing legislation 

to address this issue. However, as a legitimate 

stakeholder in the industry, West Indian Tobacco 

also has a role to play in this regard and we will 

seek to engage with the relevant authorities to 

be included in any consultation that impacts the 

tobacco industry. 

The publication of this Social Report does not 

represent the end of a cycle. For West Indian 

Tobacco, it represents the beginning of a 

journey. This Report will become our road-map 

for aligning our activities with stakeholders' 

expectations of a responsible tobacco company. 

This Report contains the commitments that 

we have made to our stakeholders. Over the 

next few years, we will dedicate ourselves to 

delivering on every commitment made. We 

will also seek creative ways to keep stakeholders 

updated on our progress and, perhaps more 

importantly, we will continue to engage with 

them as we chart the future of our Company. 

I once again thank stakeholders for participating 

in this important process. Indeed, the 

production of this Report would not have been 

possible without their involvement. 

Anthony E Phillip 

Managing Director 

1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.2 

Perspectives on 

our Social Report 

9

10 

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 

The Heart of this Report 

In the modern world, societies are asking 

companies to redefi ne their roles and 

responsibilities beyond conventional economic 

terms, and within a broader social context. 

Indeed, managing the 'bottom line' no 

longer refers only to dividend distributions to 

shareholders but also to contributions to society 

and environmental sustainability. This is what 

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is about. 

While we recognize that CSR poses particular 

challenges for a tobacco company, we seek to 

demonstrate that 'tobacco and responsibility' are 

not contradictory terms. 

Tobacco is a legal and widely enjoyed 

consumer product, which nevertheless poses 

risks to health. At West Indian Tobacco, we 

recognize this, and believe it is all the more 

important that we demonstrate responsible 

corporate conduct across all aspects of our 

operations, from appropriate marketing and 

consumer information to supporting sensible 

tobacco regulation and contributing to local 

communities. 

SOCIAL REPORTING – OUR 

APPROACH TO CORPORATE SOCIAL 

RESPONSIBILITY 

Who are our stakeholders? 

A 'stakeholder' is any individual or 

group that affects, or is affected 

by, our business. Examples include 

shareholders, employees, customers, 

suppliers, business partners, consumers, 

trade associations, government and 

regulatory bodies, non-profi t and 

community groups, and the public 

health community. 

As we seek to build our reputation for Corporate 

Social Responsibility, we have adopted a 

particularly rigorous process of Social Reporting. 

Social Reporting brings together West Indian 

Tobacco and its stakeholders, providing 

our business with an opportunity to listen, 

understand and respond to stakeholders’ issues, 

concerns and expectations of our Company. It 

also creates a reporting framework that provides 

information about our Company’s social and 

environmental performance, that is transparent, 

formal and credible. 

Our Social Reporting approach is based 

on face-to-face dialogue with the broadest 

possible range of stakeholders, on a completely 

unrestricted range of issues selected by the 

stakeholders themselves. 

In a two-step dialogue approach, West Indian 

Tobacco fi rst listened to its stakeholders' 

concerns (Dialogue One – ‘Listening’) and then 

responded to the issues raised (Dialogue Two 

– ‘Responding’). All dialogue sessions were 

managed by an independent facilitator and 

monitored by an independent social auditor 

to maintain the highest level of transparency 

throughout the process and accuracy in the fi nal 

report. 

Two international reporting standards 

determined the quality of this process - the 

AA1000 Standard and Global Reporting Initiative 

(GRI) guidelines. By using these Standards, 

West Indian Tobacco can not only measure 

its performance but also its progress against 

commitments made to stakeholders. The 

Company can also pursue activities aimed at 

continuous improvement. 

To oversee the Social Reporting process, West 

Indian Tobacco established a Social Reporting 

Steering Team in February 2004. Chaired by 

the Managing Director and consisting of all 

Heads of Departments, the Company Secretary, 

a representative from Internal Audit, and a 

dedicated Social Reporting Manager, the Social 

Reporting Steering Team worked throughout 

2004 to review relevant issues and take the 

necessary action to improve West Indian 

Tobacco’s social, ethical, and environmental 

performance. 

The entire process of stakeholder engagement 

and dialogue culminated in the publication 

of our Social Report 2004/2005. This Social

Report, our fi rst, summarizes the issues raised 

by stakeholders and the commitments made 

by the Company during the dialogue sessions 

held in April and September/October 2004. 

It is our intention to dedicate the next years 

to delivering on the commitments made. In 

future years we will continue the process of 

stakeholder engagement as we work to deepen 

our understanding of society’s expectations 

and redefi ne our role as a responsible tobacco 

Company in Trinidad and Tobago. 

STAGES IN OUR SOCIAL 

REPORTING PROCESS 

Preparation and Planning 

• A ‘Stakeholder Mapping and Classifi cation’ 

exercise to identify all stakeholders of West 

Indian Tobacco was conducted over the 

period May – September 2003. 

• A dedicated Social Reporting Manager was 

appointed. 

• Board approval for implementation of the 

Social Reporting process was obtained. 

• A Social Reporting Steering Team was 

established to oversee the implementation of 

the process. 

• Independent Social Auditors, Bureau Veritas 

(Colombia), were contracted to provide 

external verifi cation and evaluation of the 

Social Reporting process based on the 

AA1000 Standard. 1 

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Dialogue One 

‘Listening’(April 2004) 

• An independent facilitator, Mrs Deborah 

Mendez-Bowen, Alternative Dispute 

Resolution Consultant, accepted West Indian 

Tobacco’s request to facilitate the dialogue 

sessions. She was supported by the Dispute 

Resolution Centre, established by the 

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry 

and Commerce. 

• Stakeholders identifi ed in the Stakeholder 

Mapping and Classifi cation exercise were 

invited to the fi rst external stakeholders' 

dialogue. In total, 94 external stakeholders 

were invited. 2 

• 34 internal stakeholders consisting of current 

employees, retirees, former employees, 

secondees and family members of 

employees, were invited to the fi rst internal 

stakeholders' dialogue. 

• West Indian Tobacco’s role was to listen 

to the views and expectations of the 

stakeholders. A total of 86 expectations were 

recorded in both dialogue sessions. 

• The internal and external stakeholders' 

Dialogue One sessions were attended from 

start to fi nish by the independent third party 

verifi er, Bureau Veritas. 

1 See pages 69-71 for full details about the AA1000 Standard and Bureau Veritas. 

2 See Appendix 3 - 'External Stakeholders - Invited and Attended'. 

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1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.3 

Stakeholder 

Engagement - 

The Heart of 

this Report 

11

12 

Dialogue Two – ‘Responding’ 

(September/October 2004) 

• West Indian Tobacco prepared responses to 

each of the 86 recorded expectations. 

• All internal and external stakeholders invited 

to Dialogue One were re-invited to attend 

the second-round of dialogue sessions. 

• External Stakeholders' Dialogue Two was 

held in September 2004 and Internal 

Stakeholders' Dialogue Two in October 

2004. 

• West Indian Tobacco presented its 

responses, commitments and proposed 

performance indicators to internal and 

external stakeholders in these separate 

dialogue sessions. 

• Both sessions were attended for their 

duration by the independent third party 

verifi er, Bureau Veritas. 

Implementation and 

Reporting (December 2004/ 

February 2005) 

• After reviewing feedback from all dialogue 

sessions, fi nal decisions were taken and 

action plans were agreed by the Executive 

Committee of West Indian Tobacco. 

• A ‘Commitment Monitor’ was developed 

to assign responsibilities to members of 

the Executive Committee and track the 

Company’s delivery of all commitments 

made. 

• The Social Report 2004/2005 was produced 

by West Indian Tobacco with content 

audited by Bureau Veritas (Colombia). 

• West Indian Tobacco launched a web site, 

www.batcca.com, incorporating an online 

version of the Social Report. 

• Steps are now being taken to implement 

various action plans arising out of the 

dialogue process. 

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

IN THE DIALOGUE PROCESS 

The Facilitator 

Mrs Deborah Mendez-Bowen, the main 

facilitator, is an independent, professional 

mediator with no past employment in, or 

connection to the tobacco industry. She was 

responsible for managing and facilitating all 

dialogue sessions between stakeholders and 

West Indian Tobacco. Her responsibilities 

included: 

• designing the structure of the dialogues; 

• contacting stakeholders prior to the dialogue 

sessions to clarify their concerns and fully 

explain the process; 

• facilitating the dialogue sessions; 

• providing a complete report of all dialogue 

sessions to West Indian Tobacco. 

Administrative services for Mrs Mendez-Bowen 

were provided by the Dispute Resolution Centre 

(DRC), established by the Trinidad and Tobago 

Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The DRC 

was responsible for Registration and Note- 

Taking services during all dialogue sessions. 

The Stakeholders 

At Dialogue One - ‘Listening’, the role of 

stakeholders was to fully express their views and 

expectations of a responsible tobacco company 

in the 21st century. There were no restrictions 

on topics that could be discussed and 

stakeholders were assured confi dentiality at the 

dialogues. Note-takers were present to record 

the issues discussed, however, no statements 

were attributed to any individual stakeholder or 

organization. 

At Dialogue Two – ‘Responding’, West 

Indian Tobacco responded to all stakeholders' 

expectations raised in Dialogue One. The 

role of stakeholders in Dialogue Two was to 

provide feedback on the responses made by 

the Company and to make recommendations 

on such topics as performance indicators 

and data collection methods, which allow for 

measurement of the Company’s delivery of its 

commitments.

West Indian Tobacco Dialogue Team 

The West Indian Tobacco Dialogue Team 

comprised the Company’s Managing Director 

and members of the Executive Committee 

representing the major functions within the 

Company, including Marketing, Production, 

Human Resources and Corporate & Legal Affairs. 

The role of the Dialogue Team in Dialogue 

One was to listen and understand stakeholders' 

expectations and to provide clarifi cation on 

topics of importance, where necessary. In 

Dialogue Two, the role of this team was 

to provide responses and commitments to 

stakeholders. 

The Auditor 

Independent verifi cation of the process is a 

critical element for building credibility and 

providing legitimacy to the Social Reporting 

process. Verifi cation covers the entire Social 

Reporting process in order to ensure compliance 

with the AA1000 requirements. 

As part of the verifi cation, the verifi er 

attended all dialogue sessions and checked 

that stakeholders were free to express their 

views openly and without restriction; that 

the dialogues were carried out fairly; that 

stakeholders' positions were accurately reported; 

and that the Company responded to all 

expectations raised by stakeholders. 

The independent auditor for the West Indian 

Tobacco Social Reporting process was Bureau 

Veritas (Colombia). 

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Observers 

West Indian Tobacco invited the Trinidad 

and Tobago Transparency Institute and the 

University of the West Indies – Department of 

Management Studies, to attend both dialogue 

sessions as neutral observers. 

Other observers were representatives from 

British American Tobacco Group companies 

within the Caribbean and Latin America. 

SCOPE OF THIS SOCIAL REPORT 

This Report covers the operations and activities 

of West Indian Tobacco, located at Eastern Main 

Road, Champs Fleurs, Trinidad. There have 

been no exclusions in terms of issues, activities 

and operations. With regard to stakeholders, 

the sole exclusion in this process is the media, 

which, although identifi ed as a stakeholder 

of West Indian Tobacco, was not invited to 

participate in any of the dialogue sessions in 

order to ensure confi dentiality of the process. 

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1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.3 

Stakeholder 

Engagement - 

The Heart of 

this Report 

13

14 

ABOUT THE FACILITATOR 

Deborah Mendez-Bowen 

LL.B.(Hons) M.A. (Dispute Resolution) 

Deborah is an Attorney at Law/Alternative 

Dispute Resolution (ADR) Consultant, ADR 

Trainer, Mediator and Facilitator. She is the 

founder of the Institute for Dispute Resolution, 

a full service organization dedicated to offering 

dispute resolution services to individuals and 

organizations. Her particular area of expertise 

is in the design and establishment of Dispute 

Resolution Systems for institutions. She is 

currently a Course Director/Senior Lecturer 

with the Council of Legal Education, Hugh 

Wooding Law School. At the Law School she is 

responsible for the Law School’s (ADR) clinical 

programme, which has a special emphasis on 

Negotiation and Mediation Skills. 

Deborah is a Fulbright Scholar and the holder 

of a Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution from 

the University of Massachusetts, USA, where she 

was awarded the Dispute Resolution Award for 

being the most outstanding student who has 

enhanced graduate education and research in 

the field of Dispute Resolution. Deborah has 

attended workshops on Basic and Advanced 

Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Cambridge 

USA, and International Intervention: Challenges 

in Conflict Prevention, Conflict Management 

and Post-settlement Peace-building at the 

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, USA. 

She has a certificate in Executive Mediation 

from Mediation Works Inc., Boston, and has 

also attended workshops in Family and Divorce 

Mediation and Dispute Resolution, Training for 

Trainers and teaching methods. 

Deborah has worked as the lead consultant 

for the United States Agency of International 

Development (USAID) responsible for the 

design and implementation of the Courtconnected 

Mediation Programme for the 

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. She is 

designated by the Supreme Court as the lead 

trainer for mediators to be selected to serve 

on the court roster of mediators and was also 

responsible for drafting the Supreme Court’s 

Practice Direction (rules and procedures) 

relating to ADR in the court system. Similarly, 

she has served as the Chairman of the Mediation 

Committee responsible for the drafting of the 

Mediation Act 2004 for Trinidad and Tobago 

and for making recommendations for the 

establishment of a Mediation Unit for the 

court. She was responsible for co-designing the 

Family and Divorce Mediation Skills Workshop 

and co-training the mediators for the Family 

Court in Trinidad and Tobago. Deborah has 

also been consulted as an ADR expert by the 

National Judicial Institute, Ontario, Canada, on 

best practices for establishing ADR systems in 

developing countries.

Why I accepted the 

assignment as Facilitator 


"When I accepted the assignment to be the 

facilitator for the Corporate Social Reporting 

process undertaken by WITCO, it was an easy 

decision. It presented a unique opportunity to 

be part of a new and seminal initiative that put 

the engagement of stakeholders at the forefront 

here in Trinidad and Tobago. I knew there 

would be challenges because of the contentious 

nature of WITCO’s business but the process was 

bigger than the challenge. 

The Corporate Social Reporting process 

allowed WITCO’s stakeholders an opportunity 

in dialogue sessions to be heard in an open, 

transparent manner and for their views to be 

seriously taken into account. For the first time, a 

company was being put under the microscope 

by its stakeholders, being challenged to deal 

with issues, concerns and expectations that 

they, the stakeholders, considered important 

and at the same time expecting that WITCO 

would take action to satisfy those issues, 

concerns and expectations. 

The biggest challenge for me was credibility, 

convincing the stakeholders to participate in 

the dialogue sessions. The stakeholders had to 

believe that the dialogues would be genuine 

and their expectations would be dealt with. 

ABOUT THE DISPUTE 

RESOLUTION CENTRE 

The Process proved to be a success because 

the stakeholders attended, articulated their 

concerns, grievances and expectations - some 

supportive of WITCO’s performance and work, 

others not so supportive. All views were heard 

by WITCO who responded to both positive and 

negative feedback. The stakeholders had an 

opportunity to be heard, to listen and to give 

feedback on responses given by WITCO. 

To me, that philosophy of engagement is at 

the heart of democracy and conflict resolution 

and pivotal to the success of organizations in 

Trinidad and Tobago wishing to remain highly 

competitive in the global market and at the 

cutting edge of world-class best practices. 

This type of engagement demonstrates a 

genuine leadership desire to put people and 

their concerns first by building relationships to 

improve overall corporate performance. 

The big question is “How do corporations align 

their decision-making to the needs, concerns 

and expectations of their stakeholders?” One 

significant way is the use of the Social Reporting 

process in accordance with Account Ability 1000 

standards. These standards emphasize inclusivity, 

materiality, transparency, accountability and 

measurement. Indeed I commend WITCO for 

taking this bold step in corporate democracy 

and laying a track for other organizations to 

follow." 


The Dispute Resolution Centre, Trinidad and 

Tobago, (the DRC) was officially launched on 

August 24, 1996, by the Honourable Chief 

Justice, Michael de la Bastide. The DRC was 

initially developed by the Trinidad and Tobago 

Chamber of Industry and Commerce; however, 

it is a completely autonomous and neutral body 

whose operations are distinct from those of the 

Chamber. 

VISION STATEMENT 

The vision of the DRC is to be the premier 

Institution for the promotion and operation of 

a reliable Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 

training and referral system within Trinidad and 

Tobago and at the sub-regional level. 

1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.3 

Stakeholder 

Engagement - 

The Heart of 

this Report 

15

THE WEST INDIAN TOBACCO 

SOCIAL REPORTING 

STEERING TEAM 

16 

Sheldon Taitt 

Production Manager 

David Magnus 

Local Marketing Manager 

Jean-Pierre du Coudray 

Trade Marketing & Distribution Manager 

Anthony E Phillip 

Managing Director 

Chairman - Social Reporting 

Steering Team 

Jehanne Patihk 

Company Secretary

Danielle Chow 

Corporate & Legal 

Affairs Manager /Director 

Rudinauth Chadee 

Finance Manager 

Usha Avatar-Sultan 

Social Reporting Manager/ 

Corporate Affairs Manager 

Ainsley Downes 

Supply Chain Manager 

Henry Reid 

Human Resources Manager 

1.0 

About 

Stakeholder 

Engagement 

1.3 

Stakeholder 

Engagement - 

The Heart of 

this Report 

17

2.0 ABOUT WEST INDIAN TOBACCO

20 

THE WEST INDIAN TOBACCO 

COMPANY LIMITED 

MISSION 

To sustain market leadership in Trinidad 

and Tobago and to be the number one 

manufacturing centre in CARICOM. 

West Indian Tobacco was established on 

September 23, 1904 by Mr John Phillips, 

entrepreneur and founder of the tobacco 

business in Trinidad and Tobago. 

In 1920, British American Tobacco acquired the 

majority shareholding in West Indian Tobacco. 

In 1970, West Indian Tobacco became a Public 

Company with the sale of 20% of its shares to 

local investors. Today, West Indian Tobacco 

has over 3,000 institutional and individual 

shareholders of which British American Tobacco 

is the single largest, with a total shareholding of 

50.1%. 

Celebrating 100 years of operations in 2004, 

West Indian Tobacco has built a reputation for 

producing high quality products to meet the 

diverse tastes of its consumers. 

West Indian Tobacco employs over 200 persons 

and operates from a single location at the 

corner of Eastern Main Road and Mt D’or Road, 

Champs Fleurs, Trinidad. 

The Company produces four (4) brands for sale 

in Trinidad and Tobago – du Maurier, Benson & 

Hedges, Mt. d’or and Broadway. 

GOVERNANCE 

PROCEDURES 

West Indian Tobacco is governed by a 

Chairman and Board of Directors. An Executive 

Committee, chaired by the Managing Director, 

oversees the Company's day-to-day operations. 

The Company adheres to a number of policies 

and procedures which ensure that high 

standards of business integrity are maintained 

by employees. Among these policies are: the 

‘Company Image and Standards of Business 

Conduct’ policy, ‘Conflict of Interest’ policy and 

‘Environmental Health and Safety’ policy. 

BUSINESS PRINCIPLES 

Approved by the Board of Directors in 2004, 

West Indian Tobacco’s Business Principles form 

the basis of how the Company operates, with 

reference to Corporate Social Responsibility. 

The principle of Mutual Benefit is the 

basis on which West Indian Tobacco builds 

relationships with its stakeholders. The Company 

is primarily in business to build long-term 

shareholder value and believes that the best 

way to do this is to seek to understand and take 

account of the needs of all its stakeholders. 

The principle of Responsible Product 

Stewardship is the basis on which West Indian 

Tobacco meets consumer demand for a legal 

product that is generally accepted as a cause 

of serious diseases. Therefore, its products and 

brands should be developed, manufactured and 

marketed in a responsible manner. 

The principle of Good Corporate Conduct 

is the basis on which the business should be 

managed. Business success brings with it an 

obligation for high standards of behaviour and 

integrity which should not be compromised for 

the sake of results.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES 

The Guiding Principles help to shape the culture 

of West Indian Tobacco. They are: 

Open-mindedness - Encouraging everyone 

to contribute by actively listening; by being 

genuinely receptive to new ideas of others; by 

being open to different perspectives; and by 

questioning and challenging the conventional. 

Strength From Diversity - Actively utilizing 

and encouraging the diversity of people, 

cultures, viewpoints, brands, markets and 

ideas to create opportunities and strengthen 

performance. Everyone can flourish and 

succeed in an environment which values and 

cherishes differences. The diversity of people and 

ideas creates opportunities and a competitive 

advantage. 

Freedom Through Responsibility - People 

have the freedom to make decisions and 

act by accepting personal responsibility for 

their decisions, within the parameters of the 

organization's strategic goals. 

Enterprising Spirit – People must strive to do 

different things in different ways. Enterprising 

spirit means having the confidence to seek out 

opportunities for success; to strive for innovation 

and to accept the considered risk, with the 

willingness to take whatever consequence comes 

with it. 

AWARDS & 

ACHIEVEMENTS 

• A winner of the Prime Minister’s ‘Exporter of 

the Year Awards’ in the category Tobacco and 

Beverages (1996, 1999). 

• Recipient of Pan Trinbago’s 'Ray Holman Award' 

for Pan Sponsorship in 1999. 

• Winner of the Ernst & Young ‘Best Overall 

Improvement in Performance Award' in 1999. 

• Winner of the Ernst & Young ‘Highest Wealth 

Creation for Shareholders Award' in 2001. 

• Recipient of the British American Tobacco 

'Environmental Health & Safety Merit Award' 

(1999, 2001). 

• Recipient of the 'Corporate Member Award' 

(2004) from The Safety Council of Trinidad 

and Tobago for continued commitment to the 

Council and its objectives. 

2.0 

About 

West Indian 

Tobacco 

2.1 The 

West Indian 

Tobacco 

Company 

Limited 

21

3.0 STAKEHOLDERS' EXPECTATIONS 

AND OUR COMMITMENTS

24 

STAKEHOLDERS' EXPECTATIONS 

AND OUR COMMITMENTS 

In four separate stakeholders' dialogue sessions 

held with internal and external stakeholders, 

86 expectations were recorded. This chapter 

provides a complete report of the expectations 

of all our stakeholders as well as the 

commitments given by West Indian Tobacco. 

Appendix 1- 'Summary of Deliverables' also 

presents a summary of these expectations as 

well as all deliverables arising out of dialogue 

sessions. 

HOW DID WE RESPOND? 

West Indian Tobacco is guided in its actions by 

its Principles. These Principles represent what 

we believe as a Company. They span every 

aspect of our operations. They guide us in how 

we run our business. 

In arriving at responses to the expectations 

of stakeholders, our three Business Principles 

of Mutual Benefit, Responsible Product 

Stewardship and Good Corporate Conduct were 

our first point of consideration. As such, each 

expectation was reviewed against our Business 

Principles. 

Our second decision criterion revolved around 

the concept of ‘Area of Responsibility’. All 

expectations raised by stakeholders fall within 

one of three Areas of Responsibility: 

• Where we will take the lead; 

• Where we will work with others; 

• Where others must take the lead. 

WHERE WE WILL TAKE THE LEAD 

As a Public Company operating in Trinidad and 

Tobago, we have control over issues that are 

directly within the ambit of our operations. For 

example, how we market our products in a 

responsible manner; how we communicate and 

engage with society; how we manage our waste 

products are all within our Area of Responsibility 

and for such issues, we are prepared to take the 

lead in addressing them. 

WHERE WE WILL WORK WITH OTHERS 

Some issues are more complex, requiring 

collaboration of several entities in order to 

achieve sustainable results. In such instances, 

we are prepared to work together with other 

entities who also have a role to play, in order to 

address the issue. 

WHERE OTHERS MUST TAKE THE LEAD 

For issues that are outside the scope of our 

business, we believe that it is the responsibility 

of others to take the lead in addressing them. 

Where possible, we have sought to outline ways 

in which we can make a contribution to the 

process. 

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Where West 

Indian Tobacco 

should take the 

lead and where 

the Company 

can take 

effective action 

on its own. 

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Where West 


should work 

together 

with others 

and where 

the Company 

can only take 

effective action 

by working in 

co-operation 

with others. 

Areas Of Responsibility 

Where others 

should take 

the lead and 

where West 


may seek 

to make a 

contribution if 

appropriate. 

Our response has been prepared following 

these criteria. This structure offers a framework 

of action for West Indian Tobacco which can 

lead to agreement as to what is expected 

of a responsible tobacco company in all its 

fields of activity. It can also be submitted for 

stakeholders' consideration in future dialogues. 

This approach can, on the one hand, ensure 

that social expectations have been properly 

incorporated, and, on the other, indicate the 

conditions and contributions required from the 

different stakeholders, including West Indian 

Tobacco, in order to effectively address the issue 

of tobacco in Trinidad and Tobago.

3.1 UNDERAGE SMOKING 

PREVENTION 

Our View 

We believe that underage people should not 

consume tobacco products. 

Contrary to what is often claimed, underage 

smoking harms our reputation and does not 

support our business strategy of competing for 

market share amongst adult consumers. 

Underage smoking is an emotional and 

provocative issue, and there is a strong feeling 

from some quarters, including the World Health 

Organisation, that tobacco companies should 

not be involved in underage smoking prevention 

campaigns at all. Nevertheless, as a responsible 

tobacco Company, we consider that we have 

a role to play in society’s underage smoking 

prevention efforts. 

We see Underage Smoking Prevention (USP) 

programmes as having two primary objectives: 

preventing children from obtaining tobacco 

products and discouraging children from 

smoking. To this end, we believe that any USP 

programme should cover three key areas: 

• Education – These programmes focus 

on addressing risk behaviours by helping 

to teach educators, parents and children 

on how to avoid those behaviours, for 

example, by exercising responsibility and 

independence and resisting negative peer 

pressure. 

• Retail access prevention – These 

programmes focus on restricting the sale of 

tobacco products to minors at the point of 

sale. They include teaching retailers about 

relevant laws and ways of preventing sales 

to minors. 

• Advertising campaigns – Advertising 

can play a vital role in communicating 

that underage persons should not smoke. 

Advertising can target young people directly 

or support other programmes by targeting 

retailers, teachers or parents. 

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Underage smoking is a complex issue for society 

to address, with no simple solution. However, 

by harnessing the expertise and understanding 

of all interested parties – including Government, 

retailers, parents, teachers and young people 

themselves – USP programmes can make a 

difference. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-1 Educate the public as to what WITCO 

is doing to target underage smokers 

to prevent them from smoking. 

SR04-2 Explore starting a programme to 

promote healthy lifestyles by giving 

bonus points or some other reward 

to young persons who don’t smoke, 

start smoking late or stop smoking. 

SR04-3 There should be legislation 

prohibiting youths from smoking and 

to prosecute persons found selling 

cigarettes to minors. 

SR04-4 There should be controls in place 

to prevent the sale of cigarettes to 

underage smokers. 

SR04-5 WITCO should continue its USP 

programme. 

SR04-6 More should be done to stop children 

from smoking such as sponsoring a 

documentary on television or giving 

lectures in schools. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.1 

Underage 

Smoking 

Prevention 

25

26 

OUR RESPONSE 


Our responsibility is to work at all times to 

ensure that our marketing practices do not 

undermine efforts to combat underage tobacco 

consumption. 

In 2001, British American Tobacco and the BAT 

Group, including West Indian Tobacco, signed 

a global Marketing Agreement known as the 

International Marketing Standards (IMS). 3 The 

IMS establishes a common approach among all 

signatories, to marketing that seeks to ensure 

that the promotion and distribution of tobacco 

products is: 

a) directed at adult smokers; and 

b) consistent with the principle of informed 

adult choice. 

As a result of IMS implementation, West Indian 

Tobacco ceased all advertising on TV, radio and 

in the print media, increased the size of Health 

Warnings beyond that required by law and 

withdrew brand sponsorship from sport. 

In 2004, West Indian Tobacco added a new 

dimension by transferring its corporate 

sponsorship of sport and handing over its 

40-year old sponsorship, the WITCO Sports 

Foundation, to a new sponsor. 

• We will continue to abide by the IMS 

which restricts the exposure of underage 

people to the promotion and advertising 

of our brands. 

• We will ensure that the content of our 

marketing and advertising is not designed 

to appeal to underage people. In 

addition, our branded activities already 

have restricted access which requires age 

verifi cation prior to entry. 

• We have been advocating raising the 

legal age for sale of cigarette products 

from 16 to 18, and although the law in 

Trinidad and Tobago has not been fully 

implemented to increase to a minimum 

age of 18, our current policy is not to 

market to anyone under 18 years of age. 

3 See Appendix 5 - 'International Marketing Standards' for full details about this protocol. 


Our participation in the formulation of USP 

programmes has been questioned, but we 

accept that we have a role to play and should 

work with others to reduce access to our 

products by people who are underage. 

• We will work with relevant stakeholders 

to determine our role in the re-launch 

or re-design of a USP Programme that 

is acceptable to stakeholders. In this 

regard, we will establish a Task Force 

for addressing USP and will launch a 

rejuvenated USP campaign within the 

framework of the existing campaign by 

June 2005. 

• We will work with our retailers to help 

prevent underage access to our products. 

We have already begun this process. We 

are currently working to make them more 

aware of the negative impact of selling 

tobacco products to minors and we have 

provided free signage to our retail outlets, 

indicating that tobacco will only be sold 

to persons over 18 years of age. 

To further support this initiative, we will 

conduct an audit of the outlets displaying 

this signage with a view to increasing 

display of the signage by 25% by the end 

of 2005. 

• We will continue to support laws on 

a minimum age for buying tobacco 

products and penalties for retailers who 

break the law. 


It is the responsibility of society as a whole, 

including Government, educators and 

parents, to reduce underage smoking. We 

will contribute by supporting education 

programmes where key stakeholders accept this 

as appropriate.

CASE STUDY 

UNDERAGE SMOKING PREVENTION IN 

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 

In 2000, West Indian Tobacco began working 

on developing a USP campaign with the theme 

'Think for Yourself'. It consisted of a media and 

retail access campaign with the tag-line, 'Think 

Twice – Can’t Vote, Don’t Smoke'. 

The retailer campaign involved the two largest 

supermarket chains in the country and consisted 

of placing stickers on the cigarette dispensers 

at these outlets and strategically placing at the 

checkout counters, posters and brochures for 

adults on 'Tips on talking to your kids about Not 

Smoking'. 

The media campaign consisted of full-page press 

ads, a catchy radio jingle and four 30-second 

radio and television commercials featuring 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.1 Underage 

Smoking 

Prevention 

Case Study 

27

28 

active, fun-loving teens encouraging young 

people to think for themselves, especially about 

the risky things that can impact their lives. 

Before the launch in 2001, the USP campaign 

was put through rigorous testing to assess 

its possible impact. Our Advertising Agency 

appointed a social psychologist to analyse the 

messages in the campaign for effectiveness. This 

was followed by Focus Group testing of parents 

and teachers as opinion leaders responsible 

for guidance of underage persons. The results 

showed strong acceptance of the campaign 

messages by the target audiences. 

The fi nal step before implementation was to 

promote the campaign to our stakeholders. 

We held meetings with Employees, Distributors 

and the Supermarket and Retailer Associations 

and succeeded in getting their approval and 

commitment to the campaign. 

The Advertising Agencies Association of Trinidad 

and Tobago recognised The West Indian 

Tobacco Company Limited USP advertising 

campaign as the best campaign of 2001—2002 

in the Public Service category.

3.2 CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIETY 

Our View 

We believe in adding value to the 

communities in which we operate. 

A responsible tobacco industry is in the interest 

of society as a whole, and as the market 

leader in Trinidad and Tobago, we are in a 

position to take the industry lead in defi ning 

and demonstrating what a socially responsible 

tobacco company should be. 

We recognize that society’s perception of 

business is changing and in response, we 

need to review, on a permanent basis, some 

of the ways we address issues of concern. 

Our approach now is to use the mechanism 

of dialogue with our stakeholders, to defi ne 

corporate responsibility in the future and to 

inform how we engage with society and seek to 

address reasonable expectations. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-7 Assist the disabled and the elderly 

through the purchase of a vehicle for 

the elderly. 

SR04-8 Get involved in community 

development projects such as 

educational, sporting and cultural 

activities. 

SR04-9 Provide fi nancial assistance to the 

needy in society such as donations for 

operations for medical problems. 

SR04-10 Provide facilities to the Champs Fleurs 

community. 

SR04-11 More public visibility for the work 

done in maintaining the environment 

such as parks and roadways, cleaning 

the beaches and reafforestation. 

SR04-12 Do programmes to improve the 

environment, specifi cally programmes 

for bush fi res and the forest. 

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SR04-13 Ensure equality in support of cultural 

activities based on the multi-cultural 

nature of the society. 

SR04-14 Contribute to sport and culture 

and also provide scholarships in the 

education sector. 

SR04-15 Sponsor social programmes especially 

in developing communities. 

SR04-16 Assist with environmental issues 

including the Environmental 

Management Authority. 

OUR RESPONSE 


As we increase our understanding of 

stakeholders' expectations; 

• We will seek to refi ne our social investment to 

align it better with stakeholders' expectations 

as well as to focus on the social realities of 

the country. In this regard we will develop 

a new Corporate Social Investment policy 

and an Implementation Plan for this policy 

by June 2005. Given the issues raised, 

we will consider focusing on Culture and 

Environment. 

• We will also update stakeholders with these 

and other social programmes via internal 

communication, our Corporate web site and 

the media, where applicable. 


• We will work together with stakeholders 

and other interested parties to identify 

the requirements for a socially responsible 

tobacco company. 


It is for society to evaluate the conduct of 

tobacco companies objectively. 

• We will contribute by providing information 

on our beliefs and actions, so that society can 

evaluate our actions. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.1 

Underage 

Smoking 

Prevention 

Case Study 

3.2 

Contributing 

to Society 

29

CASE STUDY 

CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIETY 

West Indian Tobacco has built a reputation for 

innovation, especially in the area of corporate 

sponsorship. 

As a Company committed to making a tangible 

contribution to Trinidad and Tobago, West 

Indian Tobacco celebrated the occasion of 

the country’s achievement of Independence 

in 1962 by introducing the 'Sports Personality 

of the Year' - an award for the person who 

made the most valuable contribution for the 

year to Trinidad and Tobago, in the fi eld of 

sport. Two years later, this initiative would 

evolve into another historic development – the 

establishment of the WITCO Sports Foundation 

in 1964. The Sports Foundation has created 

its own history in Trinidad and Tobago – 40 

years of the 'Sportsman and Sportswoman of 

the Year Awards', the country’s fi rst 'Sports Hall 

of Fame' and the creation of the country's fi rst 

'Sports Exhibit', now permanently housed at the 

National Museum and Art Gallery. 

30 

The Honourable Joan Yuille-Williams, Minister of Community 

Empowerment, Culture and Gender Affairs views the Sports 

Exhibit at the National Museum. 

Sportsman of the Year 1993, 1994, 1999, 2001 and 2003 

Brian Charles Lara receives his award from the Honourable 

A.N.R. Robinson, Former President of the Republic of Trinidad 

and Tobago.

WITCO's 'Day at the Races' held on January 1, 2000. 

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The WITCO Desperadoes Steel Orchestra. 

Certifi cate from the Tobago Aids Society 

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Our decision in March 2004 to hand over the 

WITCO Sports Foundation to a new sponsor was 

our response to changing societal expectations 

regarding the association of sport and tobacco. 

Over the years, other sporting projects have also 

received our sponsorship including Horse-racing 

(74 years); Rifl e shooting (72 years); 

Power-boat racing (32 years) and Cricket, 

through the establishment of the fi rst electronic 

scoreboard at the Queen’s Park Oval, in 1999. 

With the resurgence of the steelband movement 

in the 1960’s, the year 1965 heralded the 

launch of an historic partnership when West 

Indian Tobacco undertook sponsorship of the 

Desperadoes steel orchestra from Laventille. 

Ten Panorama Championships bearing 

the name WITCO Desperadoes have been 

recorded, spanning 1966 to 2000. The 

Steelband Music Festival resulted in the 

band’s lien on the trophy spanning 1986- 1986- 1986- 

1992 - the only band to achieve a hat trick. 

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The WITCO Desperadoes have also 

appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in 

London, the First Black Festival of Arts 

at Dakaar, Senegal and with Luciano 

Pavorotti in Barbados. In recognition 

of their achievements as ambassadors 

of Trinidad and Tobago, the WITCO 

Desperadoes were awarded the 

'Chaconia Medal – Gold' in 1992 for 

music. 

In addition to sport and culture, West Indian 

Tobacco has supported numerous projects in: 

• Health; 

• Tertiary education; 

• Environment; 

• Humanitarian causes. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.2 

Contributing 

to Society 

Case Study 

31

32 

3.3 MARKETING PRACTICES 

Our View 

We believe that our products and brands 

should be marketed responsibly and directed 

at adult consumers. 

Since tobacco products pose health risks, they 

should be marketed responsibly. Amongst other 

things, this means they should be directed only 

at adult consumers. 

We are working in a long-established, mature 

product category, where people already know 

what the basic consumer benefi ts of products 

are. Our marketing is aimed at retaining the 

brand loyalty of our customers and winning 

them over from competing brands. We seek 

to ensure that we always comply with the 

International Marketing Standards (IMS) which 

act as the basic minimum guideline on how we 

can and should operate in any particular type of 

marketing activity. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-17 Marketing strategies should only 

target adults who can make an 

informed choice and should not 

infl uence young persons to smoke. 

SR04-18 There should be continuity in the 

marketing policy regardless of the 

change in management. 

SR04-19 There should be no advertising of 

cigarettes except on the packet 

itself which should be full of 

information (active ingredients 

and side effects); that is, there 

should be no form of incentive to 

encourage people to smoke. 

SR04-20 Advertising should be restricted to 

the distribution points only. 

OUR RESPONSE 


In 2001, when West Indian Tobacco 

implemented the IMS in Trinidad and Tobago, 

some of the results included the following: 

• We ceased advertising our brands on TV, 

radio and in the print media. This is one 

instance in which we have gone beyond 

the requirements of the law and our own 

guidelines. Although local advertising 

standards allow for tobacco advertising 

in the print media, and the IMS allows us 

to advertise in the press once we have a 

reasonable basis upon which to believe that 

there is a 75% adult readership and the 

number of youth who read the publication 

constitutes less than 10% of all youth, West 

Indian Tobacco decided not to advertise in 

the print media at all. We have stood by 

this decision even when our competitors 

continued to advertise in the print media. 

• We ensured that no billboard is located 

within 100m of any school or institution 

attended primarily by underage persons. 

• We increased the size of the Health Warning 

beyond that required by law. Our Health 

Warnings now cover 15% of the branded 

area. 

Our current practice is that no brand 

sponsorship or involvement occurs in an 

environment without an offi cial door policy in 

which an age of 18 and over is a condition of 

entry. Even within this environment, we ask 

any person who looks under the age of 18, to 

provide some form of identifi cation before he 

or she is allowed to participate in our marketing 

activities. 

Beyond this, 

• We have also provided for retailers, free of 

charge, signs indicating that only persons 

above 18 years of age can purchase 

cigarettes.

• We will continue to operate in accordance 

with the International Marketing Standards 

and will conduct regular audits of our 

marketing practices to ensure that they 

continue to meet IMS requirements. 

• We will also provide the Trinidad and Tobago 

Bureau of Standards with a complete copy 

of the International Marketing Standards for 

their information and action as they see fi t. 


We share responsibility with the industry and 

others involved to strive for high standards of 

responsible marketing behaviour. 

• We will promote the adoption of the IMS by 

other players of the industry including, but 

not limited to, competitors and retailers. 

• We will ensure that our advertising agencies 

comply with all regulations and voluntary 

agreements relating to marketing of tobacco 

products. 

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We see it as the responsibility of regulators to 

balance the interests of other stakeholders with 

the rights of tobacco consumers, particularly 

in enabling consumers’ access to product 

information. 

• We will support regulators by advocating a 

level playing fi eld for all tobacco businesses 

on the basis of the IMS. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.3 

Marketing 

Practices 

33

34 

3.4 CONSUMER INFORMATION 

Our View 

We believe that relevant and meaningful 

information about our products should 

continue to be available. 

Consumers of tobacco products, like any other 

consumers, should have information about the 

products they buy and we believe that relevant 

and meaningful information about our products 

should continue to be available. We think such 

information should be based on sound science, 

be of value to consumers and recognize our 

rights to have our trade secrets protected. 

We believe it is for informed adults, balancing 

the pleasures and the risks, to decide whether 

to consume tobacco products or not. In our 

view, the message that tobacco consumption 

is associated with real risks of serious diseases 

should be reinforced, so that informed choices 

can continue to be made. We believe that 

maintaining and reinforcing this understanding 

should be a common goal of everyone involved 

with tobacco. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-21 Educate the public about the risks 

associated with smoking at two 

levels, targeted at smokers and 

young persons who have not started 

smoking. 

SR04-22 Conduct a Public Awareness 

Programme and have literature 

available outlining the ill-effects 

of cigarette smoking so people 

can make an informed choice if to 

smoke. 

SR04-23 Do more education programmes 

on the health risks associated with 

smoking whether on the cigarette 

pack, on radio, television or press. 

SR04-24 Provide training for employees and 

their families on how to deal with 

and respond to the public when 

questioned about working for a 

company involved in a controversial 

industry. 

OUR RESPONSE 


Our role is to assist in the disclosure of 

appropriate information about our products. 

In this regard, we will: 

• Continue to comply with all lawful regulation 

and voluntary agreements on the disclosure 

of product information. 

• Include our views and information on 

smoking issues in our Social Report and on 

our Corporate web site. 

• Ensure that our advertising on all cigarette 

packs and primary packaging carry a clearly 

visible Health Warning even where this is not 

prescribed by law. 

• Extend our Management Training 

Programme entitled ‘Corporate & Regulatory 

Affairs (CORA) Awareness Day’ to all our 

employees and to interested spouses. 

• Engage in consumer dialogue to identify and 

address product information issues. 


With the information obtained from consumer 

dialogue indicated above, we will seek to meet 

and consult with regulators on what product 

information consumers need or fi nd useful and 

to establish how this information should be 

provided. 


We see it as the role of Government and 

regulatory authorities to be the prime source 

of information on the health risks of tobacco 

consumption and where they feel it necessary, 

to establish regulations about the disclosure 

of product information that are easily 

understandable and demonstrably pertinent to 

the interests of tobacco consumers.

3.5 HEALTH ISSUES 

Our View 

We believe the health impact of tobacco 

consumption should be reduced whilst 

respecting the right of informed adults to 

choose the products they prefer. 

West Indian Tobacco has long accepted that 

smoking poses risks to health. 

The risks associated with smoking are primarily 

defi ned by epidemiological (population 

statistical) studies that show that groups of 

lifetime smokers have far higher incidence of 

certain diseases than comparable groups of 

non-smokers. The statistics, however, do not 

tell us whether a particular individual smoker 

will avoid an associated disease by smoking less 

or smoking lower-tar cigarettes. Moreover, all 

smoking behaviours are associated with some 

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risk, and as far as we know, the only way to 

be sure to avoid a smoking-related risk is not 

to smoke. No one can be sure of the exact 

health impact smoking may have on a particular 

individual but research on groups of people 

suggests that starting later, smoking fewer 

cigarettes and quitting sooner could be among 

the steps smokers might take to generally 

reduce risk levels. 

However, the only way to avoid the risks of 

smoking is not to smoke and the best way to 

reduce the risks of smoking is not to smoke. 

There is no such thing as a 'safe' cigarette. 

At present, research on these issues is 

coordinated through the British American 

Tobacco Group Head Offi ce in London. For 

further information on research conducted by 

the British American Tobacco Group, please visit 

www.bat.com. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.4 

Consumer 

Information 

3.5 

Health 

Issues 

35

36 

3.5.1 RESEARCH ON HEALTH 

EFFECTS OF SMOKING 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-25 Conduct surveys to develop statistics 

on how our product affects people, 


SR04-26 Conduct research on the ill-effects 

of smoking and how to make our 

product safer for the consumer. 

SR04-27 Conduct research and provide 

literature to the public on the real 

risks associated with second-hand 

smoke. 

SR04-28 Conduct research on the ill-effects 

of second-hand emissions from cars, 

alcohol and noise pollution on people 

and compare those results with the 

ill-effects of cigarette smoking to 

determine which is more harmful. 

SR04-29 Conduct research in conjunction 

with the health sector, civil society 

and the university to determine the 

ill-effects when alcohol is combined 

with cigarette smoking since people 

tend to consume alcohol and smoke 

cigarettes as a form of entertainment. 

OUR RESPONSE 

West Indian Tobacco does not deem it 

appropriate to venture into the fi eld of specialists 

and conduct research initiatives regarding 

scientifi c information associated with risks 

related to tobacco consumption. We believe that 

this information is already available from existing 

sources. 


The debate on the best way to deal with risky 

behaviours in our society, which involve many 

diverse social factors, patterns of behaviour 

and lifestyles, is an important one and must be 

addressed as a long-term objective requiring the 

joint efforts of all stakeholders involved, in order 

to prevent risky behaviours in the underage 

population. 

• West Indian Tobacco is willing to participate 

in the analysis of reasonable alternatives to 

encompass efforts in this fi eld. 


The issue of conducting research regarding the 

ill-effects of second-hand emissions from cars 

and noise pollution on people, goes beyond 

the scope of action of a tobacco company 

and should be the responsibility of the 

respective authorities, research centers or Non- 

Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

3.5.2 'REDUCED RISK’ PRODUCTS 

Our View 

West Indian Tobacco shares the goal of the 

Public Health community to reduce the 

health impact of smoking. We agree that the 

development of potentially ‘reduced risk’ 

tobacco products is in the interest of society as a 

whole. However, there is no such thing as a 'safe' 

cigarette, and the only way to avoid smokingrelated 

health risks entirely is not to smoke. 

We consider the development of 'reduced 

risk' products a priority and the Group seeks 

to engage regulators, health authorities and 

scientists to determine what product changes 

would gain acceptability by both Public Health 

groups and consumers. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-30 Invent a safer cigarette that will not 

cause cancer. 

SR04-31 Invent a new cigar that can be 

smoked 10 feet away from women 

without causing them to leave the 

room. 

SR04-32 Invent a product that does not affect 

non-smokers, such as a nicotine 

pill or soft drink, which would have 

the same effect on a smoker as a 

cigarette. 

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OUR RESPONSE 


• We will continue to rely on British American 

Tobacco p.l.c. research, which is focused 

on the generation of scientifi c knowledge 

and technologies, to develop commercially 

successful ‘reduced risk’ tobacco products. 

• Our corporate web site will be kept updated 

with new research information from British 

American Tobacco. 


• West Indian Tobacco together with British 

American Tobacco p.l.c, will seek to 

work with Government, scientists, health 

authorities, and other stakeholders to try to 

develop a realistic and workable approach 

to assessing a new generation of products 

which seek to reduce the risks of tobacco 

consumption. 


We see Government and Public Health 

authorities taking the lead in providing practical 

advice on different product choices and 

behaviours that might reduce consumers’ risks, 

in addition to providing quitting advice. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.5.1 

Research 

on Health 

Effects 

3.5.2 

'Reduced Risk' 

Products 

37

38 

3.5.3 ASSISTING SMOKERS TO QUIT 

Our View 

We accept the common understanding today 

that smoking is addictive. Certainly smoking is 

pleasurable and smokers can fi nd it hard to quit 

even though they know that smoking brings a 

real risk of serious disease. People realize, as they 

should, that someone who starts smoking may 

fi nd it diffi cult to quit. 

Public Health authorities may have reached 

differing conclusions in the past, but most now 

describe cigarette-smoking as an addiction. 

However, we believe it is also important that 

smokers who decide to quit realize they can, 

provided they have the motivation to quit and 

the belief that they can. Many smokers have quit 

without any medical help or have modifi ed how 

often, where and when they smoke in the light 

of differing social norms. 

A variety of ways have been suggested to help 

people quit, including the use of nicotinereplacement 

therapy (using patches and gums). 

Most people believe, however, that the most 

important factors in quitting successfully are 

having the motivation to quit and the self-belief 

that you can do so. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-33 Provide support to smokers to 

assist them in quitting smoking. 

This could be achieved through 

the use of literature, lectures or 

subsidization of treatment. 

SR04-34 Provide counselling and other 

programmes to assist persons who 

would like to quit smoking. 

OUR RESPONSE 


• We will continue to comply with applicable 

regulations and our self-regulation code, the 

International Marketing Standards, to ensure 

that there is a clearly visible Health Warning 

in our advertising and cigarette packs. 

• We will include our views and information 

on smoking issues in our Social Report and 

on our Corporate web site. 

• We will provide links to available quitting 

sites from our Corporate web site. 


• We will be open to discuss with authorities, 

what could be our role on this issue. 


We see it as the role of the Public Health 

authorities to take the lead in providing advice 

on quitting as well as practical advice on 

different product choices and behaviours that 

might reduce consumers’ risks.

3.5.4 CONTRIBUTING TO HEALTH CAUSES 

Our View 

We believe that smoking should only be for 

adults who are aware of the risks associated 

with tobacco consumption. We also believe that 

national governments should play a central role 

in determining and providing information about 

risks while tobacco companies should assist 

governments by providing relevant information 

through Health Warnings on all packs and 

advertising. 

It is our view that development of medical 

programmes for smokers should be done by 

relevant Public Health authorities. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-35 Increase the price of cigarettes 

and allocate the increase to the 

health sector for treatment of lung 

cancer so that the State will not 

be responsible for the ill-effects of 

smoking. 

SR04-36 Invest in a new cancer foundation 

or facilities for the treatment of 

chronic diseases such as cancer or 

respiratory ailments. 

SR04-37 Devote fi nancial and other resources 

to the treatment and research of 

cancer. 

SR04-38 Contribute to the health sector, the 

fi ght against AIDS and the Cancer 

Society by purchasing a machine 

that may help in detecting cancer or 

treating cancer. 

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OUR RESPONSE 

As a legal business entity, West Indian Tobacco 

pays all taxes and submits all the required 

returns and statistical information in accordance 

with local legislation. Approximately 50% of 

the consumer price of a packet of cigarettes 

represents the Excise and Value Added Tax. 

In 2004, the Excise paid was TT$166 million. 

The State defi nes how these resources will be 

employed, according to its investment and 

expenditure priorities. 

Cigarettes are among the consumer goods 

most heavily taxed. Therefore, it must be kept 

in mind that no company can increase its prices 

signifi cantly without taking the risk of promoting 

illicit trade and evasion. A heavy tax burden 

could have effects that are opposite to those 

expected, diffi cult to revert and with no doubt, 

very harmful for the country. 


• We will continue to effi ciently collect and 

remit to the State all applicable taxes in 

accordance with local laws and will be 

proactive in supporting the authorities in 

preventing illicit trade in cigarettes. 


• We will continue to seek consultation 

with Government on new legislation and 

proposed restrictions affecting the tobacco 

industry. 


We believe that development of medical 

programmes for smokers should be within the 

ambit of relevant Public Health authorities. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.5.3 

Assisting Smokers 

to Quit 

3.5.4 

Contributing to 

Health Causes 

39

40 

3.6 PROTECTION FOR 

NON-SMOKERS 

Our View 

We believe that public smoking should be 

approached in a way that balances the 

interests of smokers and non-smokers. 

We acknowledge that Environmental Tobacco 

Smoke (ETS) can be a real annoyance and 

may be of concern to some non-smokers and 

smokers. In our view, there is no convincing 

evidence that ETS is a cause of chronic diseases 

such as lung cancer. However, we believe there 

are many occasions, such as when around 

infants and young children, where common 

sense dictates that there should be no smoking 

and smokers should give due consideration to 

people who suffer from respiratory problems, for 

example asthma. 

We do not suggest people should be free to 

smoke wherever they like. A reasonable policy 

will take into account the preferences of both 


We support initiatives that aim to reduce 

exposure to ETS while, at the same time, 

reasonably accommodate smokers. We believe 

that voluntary approaches which encourage 

the provision within public venues of nonsmoking 

areas, supported by good ventilation, 

measurement and air-quality testing, are the 

sensible and practical way forward. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-39 Help the restaurant and the hotel 

industry in creating smoking and 

non-smoking areas and keeping 

them separate. 

SR04-40 Educate smokers on the effect they 

can have on non-smokers and on 

safe ways they can continue their 

smoking habits without affecting 

others and the environment. 

SR04-41 There should be rules and regulations 

stating the kind of places and what 

measures should be in place if 

smoking is going to be allowed on 

certain premises. This is to protect 

the rights of everyone. 

SR04-42 Assist in establishing separate 

smoking areas in public places. 

SR04-43 Assist other organizations in 

providing dedicated smoking areas in 

public places. 

SR04-44 Help to lobby for legislation that will 

provide for smoke-free areas in public 

places. 

SR04-45 Assist non-smokers who are affected 

by smokers who choose to smoke 

and create collateral damage, such 

as increase in insurance costs and 

medical costs and the adverse effect 

on a non-smoker's standard of living 

and well-being. Non-smokers should 

not have to bear these costs. 

SR04-46 There should be dissemination of 

information to sensitize smokers to 

have consideration for non-smokers.

OUR RESPONSE 


• We will engage with stakeholders in order 

to defi ne and promote sensible public and 

workplace smoking arrangements. 

• We will encourage programmes that 

improve indoor ventilation systems and 

establish air-quality testing. 

• We will circulate a draft Smoking Policy for 

West Indian Tobacco for discussion and 

implement a policy by March 2005. 

• We will encourage compliance with all laws 

regarding smoking in public places. 


• We will work with those who manage 

buildings where our product is 

consumed, to help them develop effective 

accommodation policies and practices. 

• We will also work with Government on their 

issues of concern, advocating respect for the 

rights of adult consumers and seek solutions 

that balance the interests of all concerned. 

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We see it as the role of Government and 

society to take the lead in approaching public 

smoking in a balanced way, while it is the role of 

consumers to be considerate when smoking in 

public places. 

• We will contribute by supporting the 

development of programmes and policies 

that accommodate the needs of both 

smokers and non-smokers in public places. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.6 

Protection for 

Non-Smokers 

41

42 

CASE STUDY 

'COURTESY OF CHOICE' 

AN ACCOMMODATION PROGRAMME 

Since 1998, West Indian Tobacco 

supported an international programme 

called ‘Courtesy of Choice’ which was 

run by the International Hotel and 

Restaurant Association. 

The 'Courtesy of Choice' programme 

aimed to help the hospitality industry 

accommodate all its customers in 

restaurants, convention centres, cafes, 

bars, clubs and hotels by creating 

smoking and non-smoking areas for 

patrons. 

West Indian Tobacco provided an 

air-fl ow specialist who conducted a 

technical analysis of ventilation systems 

within an establishment and evaluated

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ways to best utilize the existing ventilation 

and air fl ows to arrange designated areas that 

minimize the possibility of smoke drifting into 

non-smoking areas. West Indian Tobacco 

also hired an external consultant to train the 

staff of these establishments in the procedures 

necessary to carry out the programme 

effectively. 

Over 70 establishments throughout Trinidad 

and Tobago were active participants in the 

'Courtesy of Choice' Programme. 

In 2003, as West Indian Tobacco began plans 

to embark on the Social Reporting process, 

the Company opted to stop the programme, 

pending stakeholder dialogue which would 

allow the Company to better understand the 

views of stakeholders regarding programmes 

that support the rights of both smokers and 

non-smokers. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.6 

Protection for 

Non-Smokers 

Courtesy 

of Choice 

Case Study 

43

44 

3.7 HEALTH AND SAFETY 

IN THE WORKPLACE 

Our View 

Business success brings with it an obligation 

for high standards of behaviour and 

integrity in everything we do and wherever 

we operate. These standards should not be 

compromised for the sake of results. 

As a member of the British American Tobacco 

Group, West Indian Tobacco’s Environmental 

Health and Safety Policies have complemented 

local legal requirements. 

We adhere to British American Tobacco’s 

worldwide EHS programmes which 

include minimising the use of water across 

our operations; promoting sound waste 

management and waste reduction and recycling 

activities; reducing air and water emissions; 

reducing our use of raw materials and seeking 

to ensure that materials come from sustainable 

sources; and minimising workplace accidents to 

achieve our target of zero accidents and injuries. 

We seek to achieve world-class standards of 

employment practices and environmental 

performance. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-47 Implement a social plan/policy in 

conformity with the Occupational 

Safety and Health Act No.1 of 2004 

to deal with problems arising in the 

workplace - the worker’s right to 

know, the user’s right to know and 

the public’s right to know. 

SR04-48 Introduce good occupational safety 

and health practices in accordance 

with the new Health and Safety 

legislation. 

OUR RESPONSE 


Our responsibility is to work to reduce the 

environmental impact of our operations. 

• We will continuously enhance rigorous and 

transparent Environmental Management 

Systems to reduce the environmental impact 

of our factory and operations. 

• We will ensure ongoing compliance with 

OSHA 2004 and other local regulations 

while seeking to improve to the highest 

international standards. 


• We will take environmental performance 

into account when selecting suppliers and 

business partners. 

• We will work with our immediate suppliers 

and principal business partners to help them 

reduce the negative environmental impact of 

their operations. 

Employees celebrate Environmental Health & Safety 

Week, September 2001.

3.8 FRAMEWORK CONVENTION 

ON TOBACCO CONTROL 

Our view 

We believe in regulation that balances the 

interests of all sections of society, including 

tobacco consumers and the tobacco industry. 

Given the risks associated with tobacco 

products, we acknowledge the right of 

Government to enact tobacco regulation that 

is reasonable. Tobacco regulation has the 

important objective of reducing the health 

impact of tobacco use. 

In 2003, the Government of Trinidad and 

Tobago became a signatory to the Framework 

Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). In 

August 2004, the FCTC was ratifi ed by this 

country. 

We respect the role that Government must 

play in bringing legislation to reduce the 

negative impact of tobacco on public health. 

A basic component however in public policy 

creation, is consultation with those sectors 

and organizations that might be affected by 

the decisions taken and our Company, as a 

stakeholder, has the right to make its points 

of view heard before the authorities. To 

this end, West Indian Tobacco is willing to 

actively participate in processes of analysis 

and discussion to enable the defi nition of an 

integrated and reasonable regulatory framework 

for the tobacco industry. Additionally, we 

consider dialogue and our commitment to listen 

and respond to society’s reasonable expectations 

to be a means of complementing, through selfregulation, 

our framework of action. 

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WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-49 Voluntarily adopt certain practices 

from the Framework Convention 

on Tobacco Control; that is, to be 

proactive in putting the framework 

into effect without waiting for 

legislation. 

SR04-50 Assume a proactive role in respect 

of new legislation that affects the 

tobacco industry. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.7 

Health and Safety 

in the Workplace 

3.8 

Framework 

Convention on 

Tobacco Control 

45

46 

OUR RESPONSE 

We believe that the Government should play 

a central role in advising the public about the 

health risks and impact of tobacco products 

and legislating accordingly. For those who 

choose to smoke, meaningful and appropriate 

consumer information is a sensible objective. 

We believe that in a highly competitive 

environment, we have a right to communicate 

with our consumers. 

We have voluntarily adopted the International 

Marketing Standards which directs all our 

marketing activities. We continue to seek open 

discussion with Government, other industry 

members and any other interest group on what 

would constitute appropriate restrictions on 

tobacco marketing; price and tax measures; 

protection from exposure to tobacco smoke; the 

regulation of the contents of tobaccco products 

and disclosures; packaging and labelling; 

education; communication; training; public 

awareness; tobacco advertising and sponsorship; 

illegal trade in tobacco products; and sales to 

and by minors. 


• We will continue respecting and abiding with 

the laws of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as 

the IMS provisions that go beyond current 

legislation. 

• We will promote future dialogue sessions to 

better understand expectations and clarify 

the conditions and contributions required 

from the different stakeholders - including 

ourselves - in order to effectively articulate the 

issue of tobacco in Trinidad and Tobago. 


We will seek to engage constructively and 

transparently with Government in discussions 

about the content and enforcement of 

legislation such as that proposed by the FCTC. 


We see it as the responsibility of Government to 

ensure that tobacco regulation is proportionate 

and aligned with a transparent and realistic 

objective. We will contribute by promoting our 

view based on consideration of the interests 

of all parts of society. We will also advocate 

that tobacco regulation should be consistently 

enforced.

3.9 CAN A TOBACCO COMPANY 

BE ‘SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE’ ? 

Our View 

Business success brings with it an obligation 

for high standards of behaviour and 

integrity in everything we do and wherever 

we operate. These standards should not be 

compromised for the sake of results. 

Tobacco can attract controversy, with some 

people suggesting that a tobacco company 

can’t be 'socially responsible'. That view 

indicates the strong emotions which can 

surround our products. As society’s expectations 

of corporate responsibility change, we are 

changing some of the ways we address 

issues of concern. We are working for wider 

accountability to society and engaging in 

constructive dialogue with our stakeholders on 

the issues surrounding our products. 

We don’t know all the answers, and we don’t 

claim we can get everything right every time. 

But we do believe if all parties can listen and 

engage, there are real opportunities for fi nding 

workable solutions. We offer an open mind, 

knowledge of our product and support for 

sensible regulation. 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-51 Refrain from using misleading terms 

like 'socially responsible' when 

referring to WITCO because of the 

controversial nature of the product 

sold. 

OUR RESPONSE 


We believe that a credible approach is about 

facing the issues surrounding our products 

and seeking ways to address those issues 

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in accordance with the law, our beliefs and 

stakeholders' expectations. 

The Board of West Indian Tobacco approved 

its Statement of Business Principles in 2004. 

These Principles seek to address the issues that 

are important to stakeholders, including those 

who criticise tobacco products and the industry. 

Indeed, they aim to cover all the issues that we 

must balance across our business. 

Over time, 

• We will seek ways to raise awareness of and 

tangibly demonstrate our commitment to 

our Business Principles of Mutual Benefi t, 

Responsible Product Stewardship and Good 

Corporate Conduct. 

• We will begin this process by rolling out our 

Business Principles to internal stakeholders 

and working to embed these Principles into 

the culture of West Indian Tobacco. 

• We will also raise public awareness of our 

Business Principles through our Social Report 

and corporate web site by March 2005. 


• We will work together with our stakeholders 

and other interested parties to identify 

the requirements for a socially responsible 

tobacco company. 

• We will engage periodically with 

Government, NGO’s and other stakeholders 

in order to better understand ever-changing 

society’s expectations in an honest, open and 

integrated dialogue. 


We see it as the responsibility of society to 

evaluate the conduct of tobacco companies 

objectively. We will contribute by providing 

our Social Report, prepared in accordance with 

an appropriate international Social Reporting 

standard, so that society can evaluate our words 

and actions. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.9 

Can a Tobacco 

Company be 

Socially 

Responsible? 

47

48 

3.10 OTHER EXPECTATIONS 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-52 WITCO should consider getting out 

of making cigarettes and diversify 

into other business activities but 

should not close its doors and leave 

thousands of people out of jobs. 

SR04-53 WITCO should ensure that 

shareholder value in the company is 

preserved. 

SR04-54 WITCO should engage in fair 

business practice with all its 

stakeholders. 

SR04-55 Continue to adhere to good 

industrial relations practices with its 

employees. 

SR04-56 Establish or advise on rules for 

the use of the word WITCO in the 

public. 

Our View 

West Indian Tobacco is owned by shareholders 

whose rightful expectation is that we should 

increase shareholders' returns by competing 

lawfully and effectively for market share 

amongst adult consumers of tobacco products. 

In doing so, we take a long-term view and 

believe that high standards of behaviour 

underpin sustainable shareholder value. We 

recognize that a reduction in the health impact 

of tobacco consumption is a legitimate public 

health objective. Tobacco products are legal, 

demand for them exists and seems likely to 

continue, and informed adults have rights to 

consume them and to choose the brands they 

prefer. 

We believe that we can continue creating longterm, 

sustainable shareholder value by providing 

consumers with pleasure through excellent 

products while responding to society’s changing 

ideas of how a responsible organization should 

operate. 

OUR RESPONSE 


• We will continue to focus on competing 

lawfully for our share of the legitimate market 

while building a reputation of responsibility 

and meeting the commitments made to our 

stakeholders. We will strive to achieve the 

latter through the Social Reporting exercise. 

Our responsibility is to maintain our 

competitiveness while being fair in our dealings 

with suppliers and business partners. In this 

regard, 

• We will take into account the peculiarities of 

local suppliers and trade partners. 


We share a role with other parts of society in 

respecting the rights and freedoms of informed 

adults to consume tobacco products. In this 

regard; 

• We will work with relevant stakeholders 

and Government for preservation of 

opportunities for informed adults to 

consume tobacco products. 

• We will communicate regularly and openly 

to business partners about our business and 

our requirements. 

• We will work with them, where appropriate, 

to add value to their business.

• We have maintained a strong relationship 

with our employees' accredited Trade 

Union, the Seamen and Waterfront Workers 

Trade Union (SWWTU). Our mutually 

proactive partnership approach to problemsolving 

and dispute resolution has had a 

positive effect on productivity. We have 

invited the SWWTU, which represents all 

our unionized employees, to these dialogues 

and will continue to involve them in future 

discussions on industrial relations issues. 


We see it as the responsibility of Government 

when legislating, to uphold consumers’ rights 

and freedom of choice, to make balanced 

decisions based on sound evidence and to 

Distributor Distributor Training Training provided provided by by West West Indian Indian 

Tobacco, Tobacco, July July 2001. 2001. 

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uphold our right to conduct a legal and 

competitive business. 

• We will support them by providing evidence 

on these issues and advocating fairness and 

consistency in the enforcement of tobacco 

regulations. 

We see it as the responsibility of suppliers and 

business partners to be successful commercial 

enterprises, to strive to treat us fairly, to seek to 

understand any changes in our business and to 

understand and appreciate our business goals. 

• We will contribute by helping them to 

develop a good understanding of our 

business and our needs. 

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Shareholders tour the WITCO factory, 

October 2002. 

Signing of the Collective Agreement, 

May 2002. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.10 

Other 

Expectations 

49

50 

3.11 BEING A RESPONSIBLE 

EMPLOYER - EMPLOYEE ISSUES 

Internal stakeholders are primarily current 

employees, however this stakeholder group 

also includes former employees, retirees, 

expatriates, and family members of current 

employees. Dialogue sessions were held with a 

representative sample of these groups. 

In these dialogue sessions, participants 

expressed their views on a broad range of 

issues relating to how West Indian Tobacco can 

continue to act as a responsible employer. 

A total of 46 expectations were recorded in 

Employees of West Indian Tobacco, September, 2004. 

these sessions, 30 of which were directly related 

to internal employee concerns while 16 focused 

on what the Company should do in order 

to strengthen its reputation as a responsible 

Corporate entity. 

We are grateful for this frank and constructive 

feedback. We were particularly heartened 

at the fact that many of the issues raised 

were previously identifi ed in our ‘Your Voice’ 

employee survey undertaken in 2003 and are 

already in the process of being addressed.

3.11.1 

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-57 Provide training for technical 

personnel in the Operations 

department. 

SR04-58 Assist with employee development 

either fi nancially or in terms of time 

off. 

SR04-59 Provide more opportunities for 

employee development in terms 

of access to other jobs within the 

Company. 

SR04-60 Provide training for all levels of 

employees. 

SR04-61 Give employees fi rst preference 

when there is a vacancy, particularly 

if there are employees pursuing 

improvement of skills in the same 

area of work. 

SR04-62 Continue the Company's Graduate 

Trainee Programme. 

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OUR RESPONSE 

• A structured programme of technical 

skills training for Operations, facilitated by 

both overseas and local training, has been 

introduced in the Secondary Manufacturing 

department. On completion of this training, 

the focus will shift to Trouble Shooting / 

Problem Solving in 2005. 

• Our policy on Training and Development 

includes fi nancial assistance for tuition and 

further education for non-Company planned 

training activities. Employees meeting the 

eligibility criteria can approach the Company 

for assistance. On the issue of developmental 

training, the Company will facilitate this as 

far as possible, dependent on the constraints 

of the job position. 

• The Company has embarked on a 

Training Needs Analysis exercise for 

all non-management employees. An 

external consultant is currently engaged 

in interviewing all non-management 

employees and will provide to the Company 

a documented Training Plan for each 

employee, which will be implemented from 

June 2005. 

• Jobs are fi lled in accordance with established 

specifi cations and on a competitive basis; 

therefore, internal candidates sometimes 

compete with external candidates. 

• We shall restart our “We Challenge You” 

Graduate Trainee Programme in 2005. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.11 

Being a 

Responsible 

Employer 

3.11.1 

Training and 

Development 

51

52 

3.11.2 EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-63 Provide health/medical coverage for 

all employees and their immediate 

families. 

SR04-64 Review the formula for management 

reward/bonus. 

SR04-65 Re-introduce the 'Reward and 

Recognition' Programme for 

excellence in work performance. 

SR04-66 Provide profi t-sharing for all 

employees based on performance. 

SR04-67 Provide good compensation for 

employees. 

SR04-68 Have a proper Employee Appraisal 

process ensuring transparency in 

measurement standards. 

SR04-69 Introduce Employee Appraisals for 

all permanent employees, with 

a common understanding by 

management, about the appraisal 

system. 

'Employee of the Year' fi nalists, December 2003 

OUR RESPONSE 

• West Indian Tobacco is committed to 

providing superior health-care benefi ts to its 

employees and is currently reviewing cost 

and feasibility of the option of providing 

employees with more comprehensive health 

benefi ts. The Company will also explore 

the best market options of providing family 

benefi ts at a cost to employees. 

• A new Bonus Scheme is in place for 

management. In addition, the policy on 

management compensation seeks to ensure 

that the best performers get the highest level 

of rewards. For non-management employees, 

a performance-based arrangement, based on 

agreed Key Performance Indicators, will be 

implemented by 2005. 

• West Indian Tobacco’s 'Recognition & 

Reward' Programme will be re-introduced by 

June 2005, to support the Principles of the 

Company. 

• Profi t-sharing is a shareholders’ decision. For 

employees, we seek market compensation 

and performance-based reward. West 

Indian Tobacco participates in compensation 

surveys to ensure that compensation is 

competitive for both unionized and nonunionized 

employees. 

• A single Performance Management 

System has been developed for all nonmanagement 

employees and will be 

implemented by March 2005. This System 

entails establishment and documentation of 

measurable goals and use of a transparent 

rating scale.

3.11.3 IMPROVING EMPLOYEE 

WELFARE 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-70 Provide more timely decisions 

on issues that affect employees / 

improve communication between 

management and staff. 

SR04-71 Schedule overtime while taking into 

account the impact on family life. 

SR04-72 Consider employees for 

international positions within the 

British American Tobacco Group. 

SR04-73 Provide more scope for promotion 

particularly for hourly-rated 

employees. 

SR04-74 Ensure fair and unbiased treatment 

of employees at all times. 

SR04-75 Improve the employee Sports Club. 

SR04-76 Ensure there are medical supplies at 

the Health Clinic. 

SR04-77 Provide a facility for employees’ kids 

to do supervised homework while 

parents are at work. 

SR04-78 Ensure that Industrial Relations 

personnel earn the trust of 

employees. 

SR04-79 Provide employees with the 

necessary resources or assistance 

from managers to enable them to 

carry out their job functions. 

SR04-80 Create more jobs by diversifi cation. 

SR04-81 Be an equal opportunity employer. 

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OUR RESPONSE 

• Internal communication has been revitalized 

and now includes quarterly employee 

meetings, quarterly managers' meetings, 

monthly department meetings, monthly 

non-crisis meetings with the Union and 

improved use of the Company’s weekly 

bulletin to disseminate timely information to 

employees. 

• West Indian Tobacco subscribes to the 

principle of work/life balance. Scheduled 

overtime is a function of production capacity 

and increasing demand; however, this 

situation will improve as new machines come 

on stream in 2005. 

• International Assignment is a method of 

development used by the British American 

Tobacco Group for advancing high potential 

managers and building organizational 

leadership capabilities. It is not intended 

to be a development tool for the entire 

employee population. Presently, there 

are West Indian Tobacco managers on 

assignment at other British American 

Tobacco companies and we intend to 

maintain this practice. 

• West Indian Tobacco maintains a relatively 

fl at organizational structure, and as 

such, there are limited opportunities 

for promotion. However, once an 

advancement/promotional opportunity 

exists, the Company’s Performance 

Management process will ensure that the 

best resources are utilized. It is expected that 

continued implementation of the Training 

Plan for all employees throughout 2005 and 

beyond, will create more opportunities in this 

area. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.11.2 

Employee 

Benefi ts 

3.11.3 

Improving 

Employee 

Welfare 

53

54 

• West Indian Tobacco will launch its Guiding 

and Employment Principles to all employees. 

This will incorporate a Dispute Resolution 

process for addressing disputes of any kind. 

• The Company provides annual support to 

the WITCO Sports Club. The management 

committee of the Sports Club is authorised to 

address physical improvement to the Sports 

Club. However, in the fi nal analysis, it is the 

role of employees to participate and support 

the process in order to make this facility what 

they want it to be. 

• The Health Clinic operates within its license 

to dispense medical supplies based on the 

recommendation of the Company Doctor. 

• In recognition of the controversial nature of 

industry and society’s changing expectations 

of a responsible tobacco company, West 

Indian Tobacco does not permit schools to 

visit its factory and refrains from sponsorship 

of any activities that include children. In 

this context, the Company does not wish 

to have children on its compound and 

would therefore refrain from introducing 

a homework facility on its compound, for 

children of employees. 

Sports Day 2001 

• It is the objective of the Company that 

its Human Resources personnel are, at all 

times, unbiased in their behaviour. This will 

continue to be promoted. 

• New leadership criteria has been introduced 

in the Performance Appraisal system for all 

managers with greater emphasis now being 

placed on development and demonstration 

of coaching and performance facilitation 

competencies. 

• West Indian Tobacco has no plans to diversify 

and we will continue to focus on our core 

business – the manufacture and marketing of 

tobacco products. 

• Being an equal opportunity employer has 

always been our objective and is a key aspect 

of our Employment Principles. Our practice 

is to select the best candidate for any job 

that we offer. 

A Long Service Awardee 2004 is honoured.

3.11.4 PRODUCTION AND 

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 

AND SAFETY 

WHAT WE WERE 

ASKED TO DO 

SR04-82 Ensure continuous cleaning and 

maintenance of the factory. 

SR04-83 Provide a good and safe working 

environment that conforms to health 

and safety standards. 

SR04-84 Get involved in recycling waste water 

and paper. 

SR04-85 Take the necessary measures to 

ensure that factory emissions 

do not affect the Champs Fleurs 

environment. 

SR04-86 Improve the quality of the raw 

material to produce a high quality 

and superior product in the market. 

OUR RESPONSE 

• We will re-implement monthly Housekeeping 

audits by our Quality Services department. 

• We will implement the Five S Housekeeping 

Programme as part of our Manufacturing 

Resource Planning (MRPII) Operational 

Excellence Programme and develop new 

procedures for waste-cleaning. 

• We currently conduct regular dust audits, 

noise audits, lighting audits in order to 

ensure protection of employees. We also 

provide protective equipment and defensive 

driving courses to employees and ensure 

that all new employees are exposed to 

Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) 

Induction Programmes. 

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• We will schedule monthly EHS refresher 

training sessions and will continuously seek 

to ensure that our systems and procedures 

are fully in line with the Occupational Safety 

& Health Act 2004. 

• Current practice is to recycle all waste-bin 

paper and cardboard. We are currently 

exploring opportunities for expanding this to 

other paper items. 

• Dust emission audits are performed by 

external contractors with resulting action 

plans. 

• We continuously explore alternative cost 

effective suppliers for raw materials without 

compromise to quality and specifi cations. 

We see it as the responsibility of many parts 

of society to play a part in protecting the 

environment; notably, of consumers in 

disposing of our products responsibly, of experts 

in guiding best practice and of Government in 

establishing environmental standards. 

• We will contribute by engaging with 

Government on the development 

and implementation of appropriate 

environmental legislation. 

All other expectations raised during our 

dialogues with internal stakeholders were also 

raised by our external stakeholders and have 

been incorporated into Sections 3.1 – 3.10 of 

this Report. 

Appendix I – 'Summary of Deliverables' provides 

a complete summary of all expectations 

raised and commitments made, together with 

Performance Indicators where applicable. 

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3.0 

Stakeholders' 

Expectations 

and our 

Commitments 

3.11.4 

Production and 

Environmental 

Health and 

Safety 

55

4.0 OUR ENVIRONMENTAL 

HEALTH & SAFETY PERFORMANCE

58 

WEST INDIAN TOBACCO 

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY 

POLICY STATEMENT

ABOUT GRI 

About the 

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 

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In 1997, a major international Non- 

Governmental Organization CERES (Coalition 

for Environmentally Responsible Economies), 

in partnership with UNEP (United Nations 

Environment Programme), produced a set of 

reporting guidelines called the Global Reporting 

Initiatives (GRI) that are globally applicable 

by organizations reporting on the economic, 

environmental and social aspects of their 

businesses. 

GRI provides a reporting framework through its 

Sustainability Reporting Guidelines that enable 

companies to measure their performances 

against other companies. 

The GRI Guidelines are for voluntary use by 

organizations for reporting on the economic, 

environmental, and social dimensions of their 

activities. 

In this inaugural Social Report, West Indian 

Tobacco has reported on its environmental, 

health and safety performance against selected 

GRI performance indicators. 

For further information, visit 

www.globalreporting.org (Global Reporting 

Initiative), www.ceres.org (Coalition of 

Environmentally Responsible Economies) and 

www.unep.org (United Nations Environment 

Programme). 

4.0 

Our 

Environmental 

Health & Safety 

Performance 

4.1 

About GRI 

59

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ENVIRONMENTAL, HEALTH AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 

INDICATORS OF THE GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE 

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4.0 

Our 

Environmental 


Performance 

4.2 

Our 

performance 

against selected 

GRI Indicators 

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provides a vehicle by which both BAT and its selected suppliers can develop and grow together by using a mutually beneficial continuous 

improvement process. 

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4.0 

Our 

Environmental 


Performance 

4.2 

Our 

performance 



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4.2 

Our 

performance 



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Our 

Environmental 


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5.0 VERIFICATION OF THIS REPORT

5.1 The AA1000 Standard 

“There is growing recognition by 

organizations that some stakeholders possess 

significant influence over them. At the same 

time, organizations recognize the conflicts 

of interest they have with stakeholders, and 

the lack of consensus between and within 

stakeholder groups. 

This is a dilemma that AA1000 seeks to 

address. It does not provide a prescriptive 

framework for the resolution of conflicts, but 

it does provide a process for organizations 

to begin to address them through engaging 

with stakeholders to find common ground 

and build trust. This process of engagement 

with stakeholders is at the heart of 

AA1000.” 

Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability 

www.accountability.org.uk 

This Social Report is audited against the 

AA1000 standard which requires that 

companies not only engage with their external 

stakeholders, but that they also embed social 

and ethical practices into their operations. 

The AA1000 standard was established by the 

Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability (UK) 

and focuses on the quality of social and ethical 

accounting, auditing and reporting undertaken 

by a company. 

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE 

OF SOCIAL AND ETHICAL 

ACCOUNTABILITY 

The Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability 

is the pre-eminent international professional 

body supporting organizational accountability 

and sustainable performance. Current 

membership includes over 300 major businesses, 

NGOs, service providers, professional bodies, 

academic and research establishments. 

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 

AA1000 

• Inclusivity refers to reflection, at all stages 

of the Social Reporting process, of the 

aspirations and needs of all stakeholder groups. 

Stakeholder views should be obtained through 

an engagement process that allows them to 

be expressed without fear or restriction. 

• Completeness concerns the unbiased 

inclusion of all appropriate areas of activity 

relating to the organization’s social and ethical 

performance. 

• Materiality concerns the alignment of 

information in the Social Report with the 

interests and expectations of stakeholders. 

5.0 

Verification 

of this 

Report 

5.1 

The AA1000 

Standard 

69

70 

• Regularity and Timeliness concerns the 

need for a regular, systematic and timely 

Social Reporting process to support the 

decision-making of the organization and its 

stakeholders. 

• Quality Assurance concerns the audit of 

an organization’s process by an independent 

and competent third party (auditor). For 

West Indian Tobacco, the audit process was 

conducted by a global company - Bureau 

Veritas which assigned its Colombia office to 

conduct the audit. 

• Accessibility concerns appropriate and 

effective communication to stakeholders of our 

Social Reporting process and our performance 

and implies that each stakeholder group 

can easily and cheaply access the material 

communicated. We will communicate through 

our Social Report which will also be available 

on-line. 

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• Information Quality concerns the reliability, 

relevance and ease of understanding of 

information, as well as the extent to which it 

allows comparison of our performance with 

other companies. 

• Embeddedness concerns the extent to which 

our Company embeds the Social Reporting 

processes and principles into its day-today 

operations, Management Systems and 

policies. 

• Continuous Improvement concerns the 

need to take steps to improve our social and 

ethical performance over time, in response to 

the results of our Social Reporting process. 

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5.2 ABOUT BUREAU VERITAS 

General 

Bureau Veritas is a professional services 

company/ group dedicated to quality, 

health and safety, environmental and social 

management. It was founded in Paris in 1828. 

With a presence in 120 countries, 550 offices 

world-wide and a qualified workforce of more 

than 10,000 experts, Bureau Veritas provides 

conformity assessment, consulting, training and 

outsourcing in the areas of quality, environment, 

health and safety and social responsibility. 

Bureau Veritas’ mission is to deliver economic 

value to its clients through QHSE management 

of their assets, projects, products and systems 

resulting in licence to operate, risk reduction 

and performance improvement. 

Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQi) is the 

subsidiary certification body of Bureau Veritas, 

dedicated to Management System Certification. 

More information on Bureau Veritas is 

available on www.bureauveritas.com and 

www.bvqi.com. 

Bureau Veritas’ 

specific competencies 

related to the 

Social Reporting Project 

Bureau Veritas has a unique role to play in the 

assurance of sustainability reports due to the 

following key differentiating factors: 

• A well structured global network of offices 

and strong competencies in International 

Project Management (supervision of 

the construction of the Channel Tunnel, 

international gas pipelines, large code of 

conduct audit programmes and multinational 

certification projects). 

• A strong image and legitimacy as a verifier, 

both for its 170 year-long experience in 

conformity assessment and its competency 

in Safety, Environmental and Social 

Accountability Management. 

• A leader in Management System audits 

(quality, environmental, safety, social), 

with strong components in information 

integrity with a qualified network of over 

400 environmental auditors and 200 social 

accountability auditors. 

• BVQi offers a wide range of certifications 

including EMAS, ISO 14001, ISO 9001, 

QS9000, VDA´94, ISO/TS16949, SA8000, 

Mark of Conformity, BS8800, OHSAS 

18001, Integrated Certification, Product 

Certification and EC Mark among others. 

• BVQi was one of the first accredited verifiers 

for EMAS and has some 200 clients for this 

scheme, which includes the verification of 

Environmental Reports (“statements”). 

• Local technical resources allow BV teams 

to understand the specific issues that affect 

companies and to perform meaningful 

audits of their processes and staff. 

5.0 

Verification 

of this 

Report 

5.2 

About 

Bureau Veritas 

71

72 

5.3 VERIFICATION STATEMENT 

BUREAU VERITAS 

INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE STATEMENT 

To the Management of The West 

Indian Tobacco Company 

Bureau Veritas declares that this statement, 

based upon the results of assurance, expresses an 

independent opinion. Bureau Veritas has no other 

significant commercial interests in the activities of 

the WITCO operations in Trinidad and Tobago than 

the rendering of third party assurance services. 

1. OPINION 

Bureau Veritas is satisfied that the information 

conveyed in WITCO’s first Social Report (the 

Report) and marked as verified, is reliable and 

free from significant error or bias. It is both 

understandable and accessible to stakeholders 

who wish to gain a better understanding of the 

social and ethical issues facing WITCO and how 

it plans to address them. Bureau Veritas has not 

been constrained by WITCO in its coverage of the 

process or in its audit of related information. 

WITCO has made all reasonable efforts to make the 

process as inclusive as possible, but reluctance to 

engage by certain key stakeholders has limited the 

extent of this, and thus the completeness of the 

process during the cycle. To address this, WITCO 

must demonstrate commitment to stakeholder 

issues if it is to build trust, and so improve inclusivity 

of the process. With this in mind, the information 

is material, complete and relevant, commensurate 

with the progress made in the accounting and 

reporting cycle to date. 

WITCO has implemented a CSR Steering Group 

that provides on-going review to assess whether 

values and objectives are being effectively 

met; if the accounting and reporting process 

is being implemented and embedded within 

the organisation; and if the process is inclusive, 

complete and responding appropriately to 

stakeholder concerns. 

Pre-dialogue 

The Stakeholder Mapping and Classification Study 

was used to invite all identified stakeholders to 

participate in open dialogue, with the exception 

of the media. Stakeholders were provided with 

relevant information prior to dialogue which 

included its Business Principles, information 

regarding WITCO’s identity, a list of the relevant 

national Tobacco Legislation and WITCO’s main 

corporate social responsibility initiatives. No 

restriction was set on the process scope in its 

coverage of product, operations and location 

and those stakeholders who either declined or did 

not respond to the invitation to attend the initial 

dialogue were re-invited to subsequent events. 

Dialogue 

WITCO held its dialogues in two stages: Dialogue 

One, a session to listen to stakeholder concerns 

and expectations, and Dialogue Two, a session 

for WITCO to respond to stakeholder concerns 

and expectations raised during Dialogue 1 and to 

introduce for discussion its proposed deliverables 

for the reporting cycle.

For both Dialogues, the internal stakeholders 

(employees, pensioners and family members) 

were separated from the external stakeholders into 

separate sessions. WITCO informed stakeholders 

of those issues related to product, risk information 

and business integrity that it anticipated would be 

of main interest and a brief overview of WITCO’s 

Guiding Principles and information regarding 

the Social Reporting process was shared with 

stakeholders. 

Attending stakeholders that did engage with 

WITCO did not represent a full cross-section of 

interested parties due to the absence of those from 

the anti-smoking lobby. 

Both external and internal stakeholder dialogue 

was conducted under independent and competent 

facilitation and was thus free from any restriction; 

the participating stakeholders were encouraged 

to raise freely any issues of concern. There was 

adequate WITCO representation to field all 

questions proficiently (ratio of stakeholders to 

WITCO staff 4:1 to 5:1 in external dialogues); 

however, some stakeholders highlighted that there 

was insufficient time for full discussion. 

Stakeholders were consulted on the setting of 

appropriate performance indicators against the 

issues that were prioritised during Dialogue One. 

During Dialogue Two although there was further 

consultation on indicators, the stakeholders did 

not comment. 

Performance targets were mentioned but there 

was no discussion around the development 

of systems to implement and maintain values, 

manage information, and to measure achievement 

of objectives and targets. WITCO committed to 

the future agenda, the exploration of issues not 

discussed during the first reporting cycle. 

Post-Dialogue 

WITCO has acknowledged and duly reported on 

the main issues of concern raised by participating 

stakeholders, including issues raised by proxy or 

those not discussed in detail during dialogue. 

WITCO has defined and developed some 

performance indicators and targets against 

issues raised in dialogue, although largely 

non-quantitative, with a programme for 

achievement. 

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GRI Framework 

Bureau Veritas has audited the relevant parts of 

WITCO’s management systems for collecting 

quantitative data reported in the Appendix and 

has sampled the environmental and workplace 

GRI indicator data. We have found this data to be 

reliably transposed from its source. 

Bureau Veritas believes that the use of the GRI 

framework is a reasonable attempt to provide data 

against internationally established indicators, and 

of informing the reader of WITCO’s performance 

in areas that were not explored in dialogue. 

Future Considerations 

Areas of expectation in terms of AA1000 

compliance and performance improvement: 

• further inclusivity by extending stakeholder 

engagement to a broader spectrum of 

stakeholder groups with continued openness 

and transparency. 

• greater involvement of stakeholders in 

development of more quantitative and 

substantial indicators to enable comparison 

with past performance and meaningful 

benchmarking. 

• effective stakeholder consultation on the 

development of systems to implement and 

maintain values, manage information and 

to measure achievement of objectives and 

targets. 

• incorporation into the existing internal audit 

function of practical assurance aspects of 

development and implementation of the 

Social Reporting process. 

• consider methods of future engagement and 

performance measurement that will best serve 

the interests of stakeholder expectation and 

of best practice. 

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5.0 

Verification 

of this 

Report 

5.3 

Verification 

Statement 

73

74 

AA1000 / GRI Alignment & Commentary 

The VeriSEAAR © compliance scores for the three stages are given in the following diagram. 

THREE STAGE PERFORMANCE 

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PROCESS STEP QUALITY 6 

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6 See Appendix 2 - 'The AA1000 Process steps' for details of P1 to P12. 

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2. STATEMENT AND 

ASSURANCE SCOPE 

Bureau Veritas has undertaken to provide a 

rigorous and balanced review of WITCO’s Social 

Reporting process. WITCO has been audited by a 

qualified verifier from Bureau Veritas Colombia’s 

offices throughout the reporting period, using a 

consistent methodology. Bureau Veritas’ statement 

within this report covers only WITCO’s operations 

within Trinidad and Tobago. 

Assurance has been conducted against the 

following objectives: 

• to provide an ongoing review of WITCO’s 

performance throughout the process against 

AA1000 Standard and its adaptation and 

implementation of AA1000. 

• to verify whether the information contained 

within the Social Report is an accurate reflection 

of WITCO’s activities and performance. 

Assurance has covered all aspects of the AA1000 

process from the governance structure within 

WITCO and identification of stakeholders through 

to the setting and measurement of objectives and 

targets. Bureau Veritas’ assurance does not consist 

of verifying statements by WITCO of belief, intent 

or aspiration. 

This statement covers WITCO’s Social Reporting 

process and the resultant report. In addition to 

the assurance process of issues/expectations-based 

dialogues, the case studies, information sections 

and verifiable information within the report have 

been objectively verified. Quantitative indicators 

relating to social and environmental performance 

based on the Global Reporting Initiative were also 

included as far as possible. 

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3. ASSURANCE 

METHODOLOGY 

The method used to assess the quality of WITCO’s 

Social Reporting process and to verify the accuracy 

of the reported information consisted of a variety 

of established auditing techniques which included 

inspection of records and documents; internal 

and external enquiry; confirmation of information 

sources and accuracy; direct observation of 

the dialogues and of other key elements of the 

process. 

Due to the significance of stakeholder dialogue, 

all internal and external stakeholder dialogue 

sessions were attended by Bureau Veritas in order 

to assess the quality of the dialogue process, the 

freedom of stakeholder expression, the inclusion 

of stakeholders’ views and concerns or issues 

raised and the correlation of these issues with 

the responses and commitments published in the 

report. 

To assess the Social Reporting process as a whole 

against AA1000, Bureau Veritas deployed a 

quantitative assessment tool, “VeriSEAAR © ”. This 

is modelled on a complete and literal interpretation 

of the requirements of the standard and provides 

a compliance score against the individual process 

steps of AA1000. 

For ease of use, VeriSEAAR © is structured into three 

distinct stages: pre-dialogue, dialogue and postdialogue. 

A score is attributed to each of these 

stages to illustrate how WITCO has tackled the 

challenges and requirements of each. WITCO has 

had sight of the criteria used within VeriSEAAR © , 

but at no point have the scoring mechanisms been 

revealed. 

Our philosophy throughout has been to help 

accelerate improvements in WITCO’s Social 

Reporting process by providing incremental and 

regular audit and inspection feedback. 

Within the body of the report we have indicated 

where we have provided assurance against the 

content using three Assurance symbols. 


Colombia Limited 

December 2004 

4 Bureau Veritas’ VeriSEAAR © includes as part of the tool a Truncated AA1000 allowing ease of use and application during 

assurance work. More information is available on www.bureauveritas.com. 

5.0 

Verification 

of this 

Report 

5.3 

Verification 

Statement 

75

6.0 LOOKING FORWARD

LOOKING FORWARD…. 

At the start of 2004, when West Indian Tobacco 

embarked on a journey towards Social Reporting, 

we could not then predict the exact destination 

nor the nature of the trip. 

The publication of this, our first Social Report, now 

provides us with a road map for strengthening 

our reputation of responsibility (ethical, social and 

environmental) in Trinidad and Tobago. 

Our first series of dialogue sessions with 

stakeholders of our Company saw us focus our 

attention on a wide range of stakeholder issues; 

among them: improving employee welfare, 

underage smoking prevention and responsible 

marketing of our products. 

In our dialogue sessions, we have made our 

commitments known to those stakeholders who 

were in attendance. We will ensure that all other 

stakeholders, including those who were unable to 

attend, will receive a copy of this Report. 

"…our first Social Report... 

a road map for strengthening 

our reputation of responsibility." 

We will also ensure that this entire Report is 

made available to the wider society through 

the Corporate web site www.batcca.com so 

all interested persons will have access to the 

information contained therein. 

Our commitments are clear and our performance 

indicators measurable. We have already begun 

to put in place a process that will help track 

our progress in all the initiatives we have set for 

ourselves. 

This proactive strategy is just the beginning of 

trying to understand what Social Reporting might 

mean for our Company. It is our intention to further 

deepen the process of stakeholder engagement 

and continue to embed our Business and Guiding 

Principles into the culture of our Company and the 

way we do business. 

Over time, we hope that our actions will tangibly 

demonstrate our commitment to Corporate Social 

Responsibility now, and in the future. 

6.0 

Looking 

Forward 

6.1 

Towards 

strengthening 

our reputation 

of responsibility 

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7.0 APPENDICES

82 

APPENDIX 1 

SUMMARY OF DELIVERABLES 

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7.0 

Appendices 

7.1 

Appendix 1 

Summary of 

Deliverables 

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APPENDIX 1 

SUMMARY OF DELIVERABLES (Continued)

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7.0 

Appendices 

7.1 

Appendix 1 

Summary of 

Deliverables

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APPENDIX 1 


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7.0 

Appendices 

7.1 

Appendix 1 

Summary of 

Deliverables

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APPENDIX 1 


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7.0 

Appendices 

7.1 

Appendix 1 

Summary of 

Deliverables

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APPENDIX 1 


APPENDIX 2 

THE AA1000 PROCESS STEPS 

This Social Report is audited against twelve 

AA1000 Process steps that cover the Planning, 

Accounting, Auditing & Reporting and 

Embedding processes of the Company. 

Planning 

P1 Establish commitment and 

governance procedures 

The organization commits itself to the process 

of social and ethical accounting, auditing and 

reporting, and to the role of stakeholders within 

this process. It defi nes governance procedures 

to ensure the inclusion of stakeholders in the 

process. 

P2 Identify stakeholders 

The organization identifi es its stakeholders and 

characterises its relationship with each group of 

them. 

P3 Defi ne/review values 

The organization defi nes or reviews its current 

mission and values. 

Accounting 

P4 Identify issues 

The organization identifi es issues, through 

engagement with its stakeholders, regarding its 

activities and social and ethical performance. 

P5 Determine process scope 

The organization determines, based on 

engagement with its stakeholders, the scope of 

the current process in terms of the stakeholders, 

geographical locations, operating units and 

issues to be included, and identifi es how it 

plans to account for the excluded stakeholders, 

operations, locations or issues in future cycles. 

It identifi es the timing of the current cycle. The 

organization also identifi es the audit method(s), 

the audit scope, and the auditor(s) to provide 

a high level of quality assurance to all its 

stakeholders. 

P6 Identify indicators 

The organization identifi es social and ethical 

indicators through engagement with its 

stakeholders. The indicators refl ect the 

organization’s performance in relation to: 

its values and objectives; the values and 

aspirations of its stakeholders as determined 

through a process of consultation with each 

group of them; and wider societal norms and 

expectations. 

P7 Collect information 

The organization collects information about 

its performance in respect of the identifi ed 

indicators. The organization engages with 

stakeholders in the design of the collection 

methods, which allow stakeholders to accurately 

and fully express their aspirations and needs. 

P8 Analyse information, set targets 

and develop improvement plan 

From the information collected, the 

organization: a) Evaluates its performance 

against values, objectives and targets previously 

set; b) Uses this evaluation and engagement 

with stakeholders to develop or revise objectives 

and targets for the future, with a focus on 

improving performance. 

Auditing and Reporting 

P9 Prepare report(s) 

The organization prepares a Social and Ethical 

Report (written or verbal communication) or 

reports relating to the process undertaken 

in a specifi ed period. The Report clearly 

and without bias explains the process 

and demonstrates how the organization’s 

7.0 

Appendices 

7.2 

Appendix 2 

The AA1000 

Process Steps 

91

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performance relates to its values, objectives 

and targets. It includes information about its 

performance measured against its key social and 

ethical performance targets. The organization 

provides comparative information for previous 

period(s) to help stakeholders understand the 

current performance in the context of prior 

period trends and in the context of external 

benchmarks, if available. 

P10 Audit report(s) 

The organisation arranges and supports the 

external audit of the process, including the 

Social and Ethical Report(s). Support is provided 

to the auditor throughout the planning and 

accounting processes, as appropriate. 

P11 Communicate report(s) and 

obtain feedback 

The organization communicates information 

on the process and the social and ethical 

performance of the organization to all 

stakeholder groups. This includes making 

accessible to all stakeholder groups the 

Social and Ethical Report(s) together with the 

independent audit opinion(s). The organization 

actively seeks feedback from its stakeholder 

groups in order to further develop its process. 

Embedding 

P12 Establish and embed systems 

The organization establishes systems to support 

the process, and the on-going achievement of 

its objectives and targets in line with its values. 

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For further information about AA1000 please visit www.accountability.org.uk

APPENDIX 3 

EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS - 

INVITED AND ATTENDED 

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7.0 

Appendices 

7.3 

Appendix 3 

External 

Stakeholders- 

Invited and 

Attended 

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APPENDIX 3 

EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS - 

INVITED AND ATTENDED (Continued) 

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7.0 

Appendices 

7.3 

Appendix 3 

External 

Stakeholders- 

Invited and 

Attended 

95

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APPENDIX 4 

INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS - INVITED 

AND ATTENDED 

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APPENDIX 5 

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STANDARDS 

British American Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan 

Tobacco, united by the shared belief that the nature 

of the product we sell requires that we market it 

responsibly, have worked together to develop and 

agree the International Marketing Standards (IMS). 

This is the fi rst time that a formal comprehensive 

protocol of this kind has been agreed. 

The IMS were launched world wide in September 

2001 and they lay down the minimum rules to 

be followed across the full range of tobacco 

marketing activity, including restrictions on print 

and broadcast advertising, sponsorship and the 

packaging of tobacco products. 

West Indian Tobacco, as a subsidiary of British 

American Tobacco, is a signatory to the IMS. In 

all instances, this protocol exceeds Trinidad and 

Tobago's regulatory requirements. 

In general, the Standards are intended to cover 

all actions and communications by or on behalf 

of the Company to consumers which have the 

aim of encouraging them to select one brand 

of tobacco products over another. Certain 

communications associated with sponsorship 

activities are subject to separate requirements. 

The following are some extracts from the IMS: 

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Advertising 

No advertisement shall: 

• be aimed at or particularly appeal to 

youth. 

• feature a celebrity or contain an 

endorsement, implied or express, by a 

celebrity. 

• depict any person under or appearing to 

be under 25 years of age. 

All advertisements shall contain a clearly visible 

health warning which covers 15% of the 

branded area, except those which: 

• appear on point of sale material, the 

advertising display area of which is smaller 

than 250 square centimetres. 

• are either individually or in deliberate 

combination with other advertisements, 

smaller than 25 square centimetres and 

are placed on promotional merchandise. 

No advertisement shall be placed in any printed 

publication unless there is a reasonable basis 

upon which to believe that at least 75% of the 

readers of such publication are adults, and the 

number of youth who read it constitute less than 

10% of all youth in the country. 

No advertisement shall be placed on the 

packaging or outside cover of a magazine, 

newspaper or similar printed publication 

intended to be read by consumers. 

Reasonable measures shall be taken to 

ensure that no advertisement is placed in 

printed publications adjacent to material that 

particularly appeals to youth. 

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7.0 

Appendices 

7.4 

Appendix 4 

Internal Stakeholders - 

Invited and Attended 

7.5 

Appendix 5 

International 

Marketing Standards 

97

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APPENDIX 5 

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STANDARDS 

(Continued) 

No advertisements shall be placed on any 

billboard, wall mural or transport stop or station 

which: 

• is located closer than 100 metres from 

any point of the perimeter of a school 

attended predominantly by youth, or 

• either individually, or in deliberate 

combination with other such 

advertisements, exceeds 35 square metres 

in total size. 

No advertisement shall be placed on television 

or radio unless and until each person seeking 

access to the channel or programme on 

which such advertisement is placed, provides 

verification that he or she is an adult. 

Promotion and 

Event Standards 

The Company shall ensure that only adults are 

allowed access to promotional events. 

No advertisements shall be placed on items 

where those particular items are marketed to, or 

intended to be used predominantly by youth or 

on shopping bags. 

Any item of clothing that is offered for sale or 

distribution by or on behalf of the Company 

shall only be offered in adult sizes. 

Minimum Age Restrictions 

The Company is committed to the enactment 

and enforcement of minimum age restrictions for 

the lawful sale or purchase of tobacco products 

in every country in which our tobacco products 

are sold. We support efforts by appropriate 

authorities, manufacturers of tobacco products, 

distributors and retailers to ensure the effective 

enforcement of such restrictions.

APPENDIX 6 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 

AA1000 (AccountAbillity 1000) 

An international standard for Social & 

Ethical Accounting, Auditing and Reporting, 

governed by the Institute for Social and Ethical 

Accountability, based in the U.K. 

Adult 

A person who is at least 18 years old, except 

where legal requirements or voluntary 

undertakings entered into by the Company 

specify a higher minimum age for the lawful 

sale, purchase, possession or consumption of 

tobacco products, in which case the term 'adult' 

means a person of at least that minimum age. 

Adult Smoker 

A person over the age of 18, who has already 

chosen to smoke. It does not refer to youths 

or non-smokers. The British American Tobacco 

Group refers to the term 'consumer' as an adult 

smoker. No discrimination is intended; however, 

it implies that BAT’s marketing standards only 

target adult smokers. 

Advertisement 

Any communication by or on behalf of the 

Company to consumers which has the aim 

of encouraging them to select one brand of 

tobacco products over another. 

BEST 

Business Enabler Survey Tool (BEST) is designed 

to identify those suppliers that meet British 

American Tobacco Group requirements 

and provides a vehicle by which both BAT 

and its selected suppliers can develop and 

grow together by using a mutually benefi cial 

continuous improvement process. 

British American Tobacco (BAT) 

The parent company of West Indian Tobacco. 


An independent, global company offering a 

wide range of certifi cations including ISO 9000, 

ISO 14001, QS9000, SA8000, OSHAS 18001 

and others. 

Business Principles 

See 'Statement of Business Principles' 

Consumer Information 

Providing meaningful information which helps 

adults make informed choices. 

CORA 

The Corporate and Regulatory Affairs 

department of West Indian Tobacco. 

CORA Awareness Day 

A training programme to explain the Company’s 

views, beliefs and actions on a range of issues 

associated with the controversial nature of the 

tobacco industry, and to encourage dialogue 

and debate on these issues, by participants. 

CSR 

Corporate Social Responsibility - generally 

defi ned by organizations as their role in society. 

Dialogue One 

A dialogue session held for the purpose of 

listening to expectations and concerns raised by 

the stakeholders. 

Dialogue Two 

A dialogue session held for the purpose of 

responding to stakeholders’ expectations and 

concerns. 

Employment Principles 

Employment Principles are statements which 

formalize the British American Tobacco Group 

position, setting out how our beliefs and values 

can be translated into consistent and measurable 

good practices in terms of work-place practices, 

employee relations and employee human rights. 

EHS 

Environmental, Health & Safety. 

7.0 

Appendices 

7.6 

Glossary 

of Terms 

99

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APPENDIX 6 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (Continued) 

(ETS) 

Environmental Tobacco Smoke 

Indirect exposure of individuals to cigarette 

smoke by way of involuntary inhalation of 

tobacco smoke produced by a smoker’s exhaled 

smoke and/or burning end of tobacco products. 

(EXCO) 

Executive Committee 

The most senior level of managers within West 

Indian Tobacco. 

Facilitator 

An individual or company equipped with 

facilitation techniques to assist the progress of a 

discussion or dialogue. 

FCTC 

Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a 

guiding framework for tobacco control adopted 

by the World Health Assembly in May 2003. 

Gigajoules (GJ) 

Unit of measurement used for energy. 

GRI 

Global Reporting Initiative - Voluntary 

'Sustainability Reporting Guidelines' covering 

the economic, environmental and social 

dimensions of companies’ activities. Convened 

by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible 

Economies (CERES) in partnership with the 

United Nations Environment Programme 

(UNEP). 

Guiding Principles 

The core beliefs and values of West Indian 

Tobacco. They define who we are and what 

differentiates us from others - our 'Corporate 

DNA'. 

IMS 

International Marketing Standards. Voluntary 

code launched by British American Tobacco, 

together with Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco 

International in September 2001, to promote 

responsible marketing covering all aspects 

of tobacco marketing from print, billboards 

and electronic media to promotional events, 

packaging and sponsorship. 

Lost Workday Case 

A lost workday case (LWC) is defined as any 

work-related accident involving lost working 

time, excluding those in which time lost is 

restricted to the day of occurrence. A serious 

accident involving a company employee is 

also considered a lost workday case. Accidents 

involving contractors or visitors that result in lost 

working time and do not meet the definition of 

a serious accident, are not reportable. 

These definitions apply to: 

(i) Employees on company-owned or rented 

premises or off-site performing workrelated 

activities. 

(ii) Employees in company-owned or rented 

vehicles employed on company business. 

LRC 

Learning Resource Centre established at West 

Indian Tobacco. 

Performance Indicator 

A piece of qualitative or quantitative 

information that provides a meaningful insight 

into a (broader) state of affairs, typically the 

performance of an organization. 

PREPS 

Potentially Reduced Exposure Products. The 

British American Tobacco Group is focused 

on the generation of scientific knowledge and 

technologies to develop commercially successful 

‘reduced risk’ tobacco products. 

Promotional event 

An event or activity organised by or on behalf 

of the Company with the aim of promoting 

a brand of tobacco product, which event or 

activity would not occur but for the support 

given to it by or on behalf of the Company. 

Responsible Marketing 

The act of marketing tobacco products in a 

responsible manner including using resources/ 

materials for publicity and marketing purposes.

Sensible regulation 

Working to bring about a regulatory 

environment for tobacco, which appropriately 

controls the manufacture and marketing 

of cigarettes without unreasonably limiting 

consumers’ and the industry’s rights or affecting 

Government revenue. 

Social Report 

A report on a company’s social performance (i.e. 

environmental, ethical and social obligations). 

Social reporting 

A systematic process enabling companies to 

listen and respond to stakeholders' concerns, 

and to document related information into a 

formalized report. 

Social Reporting 

Steering Committee 

A Management Committee appointed by West 

Indian Tobacco to oversee implementation of 

the Social Reporting process by the Company. It 

is chaired by the Managing Director. 

Sponsorship 

Any public or private contribution to a third 

party in relation to an event, team or activity 

made with the aim of promoting a brand 

of tobacco product, which event, team or 

activity would still exist or occur without such 

contribution. 

Stakeholder 

Any person or organization that either affects or 

is affected by the way a company conducts its 

business. 

Statement of Business Principles 

A set of principles that guides the way West 

Indian Tobacco runs its business, in terms of 

responsibility. 

USP programmes 

Underage Smoking Prevention programmes that 

meaningfully contribute to combat underage 

smoking. 

WBCSD 

World Business Council for Sustainable 

Development. 

‘Your Voice’ 

A global British American Tobacco Group 

Employee Survey, conducted at West Indian 

Tobacco in 2003. 

Youth 

Any person who is not an adult. The term also 

includes the plural. 

7.0 

Appendices 

7.6 

Glossary 

of Terms 

101

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Trinidad & Tobago 2004/05 - British American Tobacco

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