IBFAN's
monitoring used by compilers of FTSE ethical investment index
13 July 2001
Some of the world's
largest food and pharmaceutical companies have been excluded
from the new FTSE4Good
('footsie for good') ethical investment index launched
this week because they continue to violate the breastmilk substitutes
marketing requirements.
UNICEF (which will
receive donations from the profits generated by the index) has
stated that reversing the decline in breastfeeding could save
the lives of 1.5 million infants around the world every year.
Household names such
as Nestlé, Abbott Ross, American Home Products (Wyeth),
Mead-Johnson and NUMICO (Nutricia, Milupa, Cow&Gate), Meiji
and Snow Brand have all been found to violate the 1981 International
Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent,
relevant Resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly. None
appear on the lists published this week on the FTSE4Good
website.
The latest IBFAN
monitoring report, Breaking
the Rules, Stretching the Rules 2001 (the result of monitoring
in 14 countries) contains company profiles and IBFAN's new Look
What They're Doing pamphlets explain how marketing malpractice
influences infant feeding decisions and impacts on infant health.
Baby milk companies
violating the International Code and Resolutions are
excluded from the FTSE4Good index under section eight of the
criteria for social
issues and stakeholder relations which states:
"Companies
must not have breached the infant formula manufacturing section
of the International Code on Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes
according to the International
Baby Food Action Network [IBFAN]."
Ethical investment
firms operating in the UK and elsewhere already exclude violators
of the Code and Resolutions from their portfolios. Legislation
introduced by the UK government last year requires all
pension funds to disclose the "extent to which social, environmental
and ethical considerations are taken into account in the selection,
retention and realisation of investments" and has increased
the interest in ethical investment.
There are FTSE4Good
indices for the UK, Europe, US and the whole world. The UK list
excludes one third of the companies on the general FTSE100 list
of companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. The indices
have received some criticism, however. For example, environmental
and human rights campaigners are objecting to the inclusion
of oil companies (see The Guardian 10
July, 11
July and 29
May).
For more information
please contact; Mike
Brady, Campaigns Coordinator, Baby Milk Action (the UK IBFAN
group)
Notes for editors
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FTSE4Good
is an index for "socially responsible investment"
designed by FTSE, one of the world's leading global index
providers. According to the FTSE4Good website: "FTSE4Good
is a series of benchmark and tradable indices facilitating
investment in companies with good records of corporate social
responsibility. FTSE4Good is unique - there is no other
socially responsible index quite like it. Independently
defined and researched, FTSE4Good sets an objective global
standard for socially responsible investment. The FTSE4Good
Selection Criteria cover 3 areas:
- Working towards
environmental sustainability
- Developing positive
relationships with stakeholders
- Upholding and
supporting universal human rights"
FTSE4Good selection
criteria were developed by FTSE in association with the Ethical
Investment Research Service.
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