Norway's J.L. Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik is aware children work on African plantations supplying the company with tobacco, but the firm says there's little it can do to stamp out child labour.
Child labour is widespread on tobacco plantations in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Tiedemanns gets 20 to 30 percent of its raw material from these countries. However he was not available for comment when Aftenposten called to ask how he could use his position of influence to hinder the purchase of materials produced by child labour. He was able to reply on behalf of the factory, but not the family that owns the shares. But the Danish newspaper Politiken has visited plantations in Malawi and Zimbabwe and found many instances of child labour. Even though Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni plays a dominant role in Denmark and Norway, Kvam maintains the company yields little international influence.