SmithKline Beecham had fourteen subsidiaries in South Africa during the apartheid years, and has operations in Brazil, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines.

SmithKline Beecham features on Greenpeace's ' Filthy 50' list of plants licensed by the National Rivers Authority to discharge toxic waste into the rivers and sea. In the year to March 1991, SmithKline Beecham exceeded its discharge consent more than thirty times according to the NRA and/or the RPB. It was found to have breached its consent 19 times since the beginning of 1991. It was also found to have discharged cadmium, nickel and lead for which the company had no consent.

The company has its own animal testing facilities and it has been accused of unnecessary cruelty in housing its animals. In 1990, an undercover National Anti-Vivisection Society worker reported baby mice having their toes removed, beagles kept in metal pens with concrete floors and no bedding, and dogs being transported packed two in a crate.

SmithKline & Beecham products include;
• Shampoo: Bristows, Silkience, Vosene
• Soap: Badedas, Fenjal, Pure & Simple, Silvikrin Supersoap
• Toothpaste: Aquafresh, Macleans
• Other brand names: Ribena, Baby Ribena