In Sudan, both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) control production areas and trade routes, imposing levies, “protection” fees, and export charges to sustain their war efforts. The capture and exploitation of the gum arabic sector cannot be meaningfully detected or mitigated through existing sustainability schemes. Companies using these frameworks as evidence of due diligence risk obscuring, rather than addressing, how their supply chains intersect with a militarized economy. Voluntary initiatives offer limited assurance in conflict-affected settings. This underscores the need for stronger, binding due diligence requirements covering conflict-related risks throughout supply chains.

The Business and Human Rights Centre invited companies to respond. Only L'Oréal responded. We were unable to reach Gum Arabic Company because of a lack of publicly available contact information.