"Company fined for slave labor supplies Philip Morris and Syngenta", 10 October 2025

...SANTA COLOMBA Agropecuária, which requested direct intervention from the leadership of the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE) and succeeded in preventing its name from being added to Brazil’s Dirty List of slave labor offenders, supplies raw materials to agribusiness multinationals such as Syngenta Seeds and Philip Morris.

Producer of grains, seeds, cotton, cocoa, and tobacco in Bahia, in northeastern Brazil, the company was fined in November 2023 for subjecting a worker to conditions analogous to slavery. The fine was issued after an employee of Santa Colomba reported being tortured by security guards at Fazenda Karitel, one of the company’s production hubs.

According to the inspection report obtained by Repórter Brasil, the worker was handcuffed, locked in a dark room, and beaten by the guards. After inspecting the site and analyzing documents such as a police inquiry and medical reports, the MTE’s technical team fined the company for subjecting the worker to degrading conditions—one of the four criteria that define “conditions analogous to slavery” in Brazil.

...According to sources interviewed by Repórter Brasil, the move is seen as political interference in a technical process.

The appeal keeps the company off the Dirty List until the ministerial decision. The latest update to the list, published Monday (6), added 159 new names...

Santa Colomba has maintained contracts with Philip Morris—owner of Marlboro and L&M cigarette brands—since at least 2021, according to financial statements obtained by Repórter Brasil. In 2023, an exclusive contract with Philip Morris accounted for nearly half (49%) of the company’s total revenue...

Among Philip Morris’s social and environmental policies are commitments to mitigate risks of labor exploitation in its supply chains and to exclude suppliers listed in the Dirty List.

In a statement sent to Repórter Brasil on Wednesday (8), Santa Colomba said it is following the MTE administrative process and that “decisions by the Labor Prosecution Office and the Labor Court, as well as conclusions from the Civil Police investigation, prove that the case does not involve practices of slavery-like labor.” The company reaffirmed its “absolute commitment to human rights, sustainability, and social responsibility” and described the incident as an “isolated occurrence involving a third-party contractor and a worker.” It declined to comment on its commercial relationships.

Philip Morris did not respond by the time of publication. 

Santa Colomba also dedicates farmland to the multiplication of corn and soybean seeds for Syngenta Seeds...

Headquartered in Switzerland, Syngenta states in its Supplier Code of Conduct that its business partners must “ensure that they do not participate directly or indirectly, or benefit in any way, from forced or slave labor,” including through “physical or mental coercion.”

However, when contacted by Repórter Brasil, Syngenta said that being listed in the Dirty List is its main criterion for excluding suppliers. The company stated it was unaware of the fine against Santa Colomba since it has not yet been added to the list, and that the “case is being duly monitored so we can act according to its developments.” Syngenta added that it “will not accept any supplier listed in the Ministry of Labor’s Dirty List.” Read Syngenta’s full answer...

Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut—one of the world’s largest—had reportedly begun negotiations for a partnership with Santa Colomba, according to an April report by Reuters. The multinational did not confirm the deal at the time and has not commented now...