Distribution Network
Content
Two household name companies – Rolls-Royce and Cartier – are to quit Burma as a result of the recent brutal clampdown on democracy campaigners there.
British engineering company Rolls-Royce announced it would ‘cease all business’ in Burma, also known as Myanmar, in view of the repression by the military junta during October.
It is returning to Myanmar Airways two engines awaiting overhaul at one of its UK facilities and is ending the contract for repair work, as well as an aircraft leasing arrangement for a Burmese airline.
‘At that point Rolls-Royce will have no further involvement in Burma and will not be seeking any further business,’ the company declared, adding that its work connected with Burma contributed only ‘a few tens of thousands of pounds’ to its £7billion ($14bn) annual turnover. The company took similar action in the summer when it announced its intention to ‘progressively withdraw’ from any contracts it has in Sudan (EP9, issue 2, p7).
Global jewellery retailer Cartier responded to the repression by stating last month that ‘until further notice’ it would stop buying gemstones mined in Burma. It is to carry out ‘random analyses’ of gemstone shipments to investigate suppliers’ claims about their origins.
In the US, Jewelers of America, representing 11,000 jewellery stores, has asked Congress to amend the 2003 Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which bans the importation of products from Burma, to include gemstones that have been cut and polished in other countries.
Burma is thought to receive foreign currency earnings of about $300million a year from state gem auctions. It also earns $2bn a year from its gas reserves.
The French oil company Total has a 31 per cent interest in the Yadana gas pipeline project, which begins in Burmese territorial waters, and has repeated its intention to continue operating in the country.
It stated: ‘Through our presence we are helping to improve the daily lives of tens of thousands of people who benefit from our social and economic initiatives. A forced withdrawal would lead to our replacement by other operators probably less committed to the ethical principles guiding all our initiatives.’ The pipeline accounts for only 0.6 per cent of Total’s worldwide daily production of oil and gas, the company told EP. However, at the end of 2006 Burma had 19 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, enough for the next 40 years at its current rate of supply.
Jean Francois Lassalle, Total’s director of external relations, said: ‘It is difficult to condemn the ongoing repression because Total is not a moral or political authority’. This statement was condemned by Sir Geoffrey Chandler, founder-chair of the Amnesty International UK Business Group and a former director of Shell, who said: ‘Total’s claim to have neither moral nor political authority to condemn the repression is contemptible. Political authority, no. But moral authority as a powerful corporate citizen of the country, yes.’
During construction of the pipeline both Total and Unocal were accused of alleged human rights abuses. In 2005 this led to Total reaching an out of court settlement of $6.12m.
The European Union last month tightened sanctions on Burma, banning exports of equipment used in the country’s timber and mining industries, but not in the energy sector.
British engineering company Rolls-Royce announced it would ‘cease all business’ in Burma, also known as Myanmar, in view of the repression by the military junta during October.
It is returning to Myanmar Airways two engines awaiting overhaul at one of its UK facilities and is ending the contract for repair work, as well as an aircraft leasing arrangement for a Burmese airline.
‘At that point Rolls-Royce will have no further involvement in Burma and will not be seeking any further business,’ the company declared, adding that its work connected with Burma contributed only ‘a few tens of thousands of pounds’ to its £7billion ($14bn) annual turnover. The company took similar action in the summer when it announced its intention to ‘progressively withdraw’ from any contracts it has in Sudan (EP9, issue 2, p7).
Global jewellery retailer Cartier responded to the repression by stating last month that ‘until further notice’ it would stop buying gemstones mined in Burma. It is to carry out ‘random analyses’ of gemstone shipments to investigate suppliers’ claims about their origins.
In the US, Jewelers of America, representing 11,000 jewellery stores, has asked Congress to amend the 2003 Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which bans the importation of products from Burma, to include gemstones that have been cut and polished in other countries.
Burma is thought to receive foreign currency earnings of about $300million a year from state gem auctions. It also earns $2bn a year from its gas reserves.
The French oil company Total has a 31 per cent interest in the Yadana gas pipeline project, which begins in Burmese territorial waters, and has repeated its intention to continue operating in the country.
It stated: ‘Through our presence we are helping to improve the daily lives of tens of thousands of people who benefit from our social and economic initiatives. A forced withdrawal would lead to our replacement by other operators probably less committed to the ethical principles guiding all our initiatives.’ The pipeline accounts for only 0.6 per cent of Total’s worldwide daily production of oil and gas, the company told EP. However, at the end of 2006 Burma had 19 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, enough for the next 40 years at its current rate of supply.
Jean Francois Lassalle, Total’s director of external relations, said: ‘It is difficult to condemn the ongoing repression because Total is not a moral or political authority’. This statement was condemned by Sir Geoffrey Chandler, founder-chair of the Amnesty International UK Business Group and a former director of Shell, who said: ‘Total’s claim to have neither moral nor political authority to condemn the repression is contemptible. Political authority, no. But moral authority as a powerful corporate citizen of the country, yes.’
During construction of the pipeline both Total and Unocal were accused of alleged human rights abuses. In 2005 this led to Total reaching an out of court settlement of $6.12m.
The European Union last month tightened sanctions on Burma, banning exports of equipment used in the country’s timber and mining industries, but not in the energy sector.
Super Featured
No
Featured
No