Modern Slavery Acts Combating Child and Forced Labor: Part 2

This article focuses on resources available to businesses and consumers produced as a result of global efforts to enact legislation to eliminate child and forced labor in supply chains. New resources are rapidly being developed, so this is just a representative sampling. Resources are roughly categorized based on their use in supply chain transparency or due diligence, though some could be either or both. Contributing stakeholder organizations are cited and recent literature reviews provided.

Supply Chain Transparency

The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Intelligence Hub website provides tools, templates, and best practices across all key procurement and supply topics. It provides details on Modern Slavery Statements, a link to the 2014 Walk Free guide below, 10 common components for ethical procurement, etc.

Milligan, S and Southin, N (2023), Here’s What Businesses and Consumers Can Do To Tackle Modern Slavery in Supply Chains, The Conversation, details the following best practices for businesses:

·????? Create and manage supplier contracts in a way that ensures suppliers recognize and adhere to international labor laws and modern slavery legislation

·????? Large private and public sector organizations can work with small-to-medium enterprises to raise awareness of the risk factors (labor intensive industries; dangerous or physically demanding work; high numbers of temporary, seasonal, or agency workers; operating in countries with inadequate labor laws and enforcement; etc) associated with modern slavery

·????? Ask suppliers to report on the actions they are taking to remove modern slavery from their supply chains

Article also stress importance of consumer attitude, behavior, and pressure as strong motivators for businesses to take action to reduce instances of modern slavery in their supply chains.

Wong, T. (2023), Guide to Minimizing Modern Slavery Risk in Shipping Supply Chains, Mekong Club, states shipping is an essential component of the supply chain for transporting freight, accounting for 90% of global trade. Despite its importance, supply chain workers can face severe exploitation, jeopardizing a company’s sustainability and heightening legal risks. This guide provides an overview of modern slavery risks in shipping, followed by practical steps to address these risks.

Walk Free (2023), Global Slavery Index, provides national estimates of modern slavery for 160 countries. Contains prevalence data and maps, global and regional findings, country studies, analysis on key drivers of modern slavery, selected forms of modern slavery, and sectors at risk of modern slavery, etc.

Mekong Club (2022), Modern Slavery and Third-Party Contractors and Modern Slavery and SMEs, recommend that third-party contractors and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), voluntarily develop a frequently asked question (FAQ) document to respond to routine queries related to their efforts associated with modern slavery and provides sample questions to cover the topics required.

Mekong Club (2022), Modern Slavery Risk Map, interactive map to search by country and commodity to see where the risk of modern slavery is found. Search results produce population in slavery, government response rating, and Trafficking in Persons Report Tier number, and country and commodity reports.

Through the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Target 8.7) the global community has committed to ending modern slavery among children by 2025 (ILO, Walk Free, IOM (2022), Global Estimates of Modern Slavery Forced Labor and Forced Marriage), and universally by 2030 (International Labor Organization (ILO), Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) - Alliance 8.7 (2019), Ending Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking In Global Supply Chains). The Alliance 8.7 report advocates:

·????? Governments need to address the public governance gaps and socio-economic pressures that create space for non-compliance and that render people vulnerable to violations of fundamental labor rights

·????? Governments also need to leverage their regulatory authority and their central role in the economy to ensure that businesses respect human rights in their operations and supply chains

·????? Businesses need a more comprehensive, whole-of-supply-chain approach to due diligence, which is preventative, prioritized in accordance with risk, integrated into an enterprise’s risk management and decision-making, and grounded in social dialogue and meaningful stakeholder engagement

·????? Multi-stakeholder partnerships and inclusive business approaches are needed both in localized efforts to address root causes and as broader platforms to enable collaboration, focus efforts, and share experience

Wong, T. (2022), 4 Things to Know About Modern Slavery Risks in Shipping to Carry Out the 3 Steps Toward Supply Chain Sustainability, Mekong Club Blog, provides details on identifying, managing, and preventing risks in shipping.

Jones, E. & ?Tiffen, P. (2021), Combating Forced and Child Labor of Refugees in Global Supply Chains: The Role of Responsible Sourcing, Verité and the Tent Partnership for Refugees, emphasizes that with the global refugee crisis showing no signs of abating, multinational companies will become even more exposed to refugee populations via their suppliers. Report details why and how companies can hire and incorporate refugees into their supply chains as a proactive strategy to combat forced labor.

Re:Structure Lab (2021), Re:Structure Lab Blueprint, Sheffield, Stanford,

and Yale Universities, provides an overview of six Forced Labor Evidence Briefs on how existing business models and supply chains drive labor exploitation, recommendations on changes required to ensure a sustainable future, guidance on how to achieve high-level commitments made by the business community, and a framework for a more just, equitable approach.

Crandall, W (2019), Expose Modern-Day Supply Chain Slavery, Association of Supply Chain Management Insights blog, offers five steps to solve the problem of modern-day supply chain slavery:

·????? Maintain the integrity of your supply chain...fostering human rights is an essential part of being a good supply chain manager

·????? Know what’s going on...by mapping your company’s entire supply chain...and network with other supply chain professionals to augment your knowledge in this area

·????? Go beyond codes of conduct...the supplier may have no idea how to achieve both (ethical standards and affordability)

·????? Tap into non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help you maintain a slavery-free supply chain

·????? Stay away from questionable suppliers...it is never worth the price drop to risk doing business with a supplier endorsing modern-day slavery

In 2015, the California Department of Justice issued an informational Resource Guide containing recommendations for companies to consider in complying with the Transparency in Supply Chains Act and model disclosures and best practices inspired by real-world company disclosures. Appendix C: Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Resources, lists resources (with hotlinks) for Statistics, Anti-Slavery & Human Trafficking, Supply Chains, California SB 657.

Walk Free (2014), Tackling Modern Slavery in Supply Chains A Guide 1.0, is organized into the following chapters:

·????? Beginning of a Framework for Effective Standards

·????? Risk Assessment

·????? Audits and On-Site Assessments

·????? Corrective Action, Implementation and Closure

·????? Engaging with Suppliers

The guide provides 12 tools for implementation of the proposed system.

Verité (2013), Corruption & Labor Trafficking in Global Supply Chains, outlines how trafficking-related activities in global supply chains include corruption, bribery, and other conduct that could result in liability for companies subject to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) jurisdiction. It also provides guidance on how and where companies should respond to the specific compliance risks associated with labor trafficking.

Hunter, P. & Kepes, Q. (2012), Human Trafficking & Global Supply Chains: A Background Paper, Verité. Annex 2: UNGIFT’s Proposed Action for Business Against Human Trafficking. Annex 3: Verité’s Sample Code of Conduct Provisions to Prohibit Human Trafficking & Forced Labor.

Due Diligence

The Global Business Coalition Against Trafficking (GBCAT) brings together companies across sectors to combat modern slavery and human trafficking in company operations and supply chains. In addition to the work done by Tech Against Trafficking (TAT), GBCAT's other workstreams focus on Corporate Supplier Capacity Building and Survivor Empowerment & Employment. TAT includes an Interactive Map with 309 tools, which can be variously filtered via Tool Category (includes Supply Chain Management - 56), Target Sector, Technology, Trafficking Type, Target Users, Key Phrases, combinations thereof, or you can download the entire list.

Verité (2024), Responsible Sourcing Tool with Base and Sector-Specific Toolkits, provides guidance and resources to help companies identify, prevent, and address human trafficking and forced labor in supply chains by providing templates for supplier codes of conduct, risk assessment tools, and training materials. Website has tabs for external and compliance resources, case studies (agriculture; construction; manufacturing, electronics and electrical; manufacturing, textile and apparel; extractives, mining, and metal; fishing and aquaculture; forestry; healthcare; hospitality; housekeeping/facilities; transportation and warehousing; global supply chains, recruitment, trafficking); survivor engagement, comprehensive due diligence tool sets for the seafood industry, food industry, private security industry, facilities services sector; tools for creating strong policies, screening and evaluation, compliance management; and, interactive tabs for understanding and visualizing risks.

Elevate (2023), Supply Chain Due Diligence Legislation Map, is an interactive map to learn more about these laws (In Effect, In Effect and Proposed, Proposed) in each highlighted country. Interestingly, Elevate and its partners will develop and publish two actionable tools over the next four years to empower brands and retailers to trace their full supply chain to improve visibility to upstream suppliers:

·????? The Commodity Tracing Protocol: Establishes a standardized protocol, including definitions, tools, and best practices that can be adapted for different industries

·????? The Commodity Tracing Platform: An open-source supply chain tracing system that captures traceability and verification data to present a complete picture of the child / forced labor risk in a supply chain

Walk Free (2023), Business & Investor Toolkit, is designed to help businesses and investors take action to improve human rights standards in their supply chains and combat forced labor, human trafficking and other forms of modern slavery. It contains links to case studies, research, legal frameworks and tools produced by Walk Free and other civil society organizations from around the world. Resources are organized into the following categories:

·????? Understanding the problem

·????? Supply chain due diligence, codes of conduct, corrective action and remedy

·????? Legal obligations and frameworks

·????? Modern slavery reporting

·????? Financial sector tools

·????? Mitigating Impacts of Covid-19 on Vulnerable Workers

Verité (2022), Forced Labor Commodity Atlas, provides details on specific commodities and their relationship to forced labor and other forms of exploitation at the base of global supply chains. Includes maps where commodities are produced; production and supply chain; details on what governments, corporations, and others are doing; etc.

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct (2023), provides a comprehensive code of conduct for multinational enterprises on the social, environmental and economic aspects of responsible business conduct, with recommendations for voluntary principles and standards for enterprises to adhere to. The Guidelines cover all key areas of business responsibility, including human rights, labor rights, environment, bribery, consumer interests, disclosure, science and technology, competition, and taxation. The 2023 edition of the Guidelines provides updated recommendations for responsible business conduct across key areas, such as climate change, biodiversity, technology, business integrity and supply chain due diligence, as well as updated implementation procedures for the National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct.

Social Responsibility Alliance (2023), The Slavery & Trafficking Risk Template, is a self-assessment questionnaire, in Excel format, used to collect data on human trafficking and modern slavery-related risks in the supply chain. Companies can utilize the data collected to improve supply chain visibility, assess and mitigate risk, improve human trafficking-related public disclosures, and ensure their compliance with human trafficking and modern slavery related legislation.

On December 20, 2023, Public Safety Canada released its new website regarding the implementation of the Supply Chains Act. Among the many resources cited, Combating Forced Labor: A Handbook for Employers and Business, International Labor Organization, 2015, provides guidance to employers and businesses on strengthening their capacity to address risks of forced labor and human trafficking in their operations and supply chains.

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (2022), List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, is a list of goods and their source countries which the ILAB has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards. This list comprises 159 goods from 78 countries and areas.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, Torres-Cortés, F, Salinier, C, Deringer, H, et al. (2020), Study on Due Diligence Requirements Through the Supply Chain – Final Report, Publications Office, provides details on due diligence reporting requirements for modern slavery and human trafficking for 13 European countries, case studies, country reports, options for new regulation requiring mandatory due diligence, etc.

Verité (2017), Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal and Corporate Supply Chains: Research on Risk in 43 Commodities Worldwide, provides guidance to contractors on looking actively at the labor practices of their subcontractors and suppliers, and to consider the labor involved in production of inputs even at the lowest tiers of their supply chains. Major headings include Risk Factors for Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains; Methods/Process for Supply Chain Research; and, Sectors with Significant Federal Procurement and Significant Risk of Human Trafficking.

Literature Reviews

Lotfi, M and Pisa, N (2024), Child Slavery in Supply Chains: Actors of the Dirty Scene, Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management.

Ishaya, B, Paraskevadakis, D, Bury, A and Bryde, DJ (2023), A Systematic Literature Review of Modern Slavery Through Benchmarking Global Supply Chain, Benchmarking: An International Journal, ISSN 1463-5771.

Raskovic, M (2023), Taming Wicked Problems Through International Business Policy: Recommendations for Addressing Modern Slavery, Critical Perspectives on International Business, ISSN: 1742-2043.

Strand, V, Lotfi, M, Flynn, A, and Walker, H (2023), A Systematic Literature Review of Modern Slavery in Supply Chain Management: State of the Art, Framework Development and Research Opportunities, Journal of Cleaner Production.

Szablewska, N and Kubacki, K (2023), Empirical Business Research on Modern Slavery in Supply Chains: A Systematic Review, Journal of Business Research, 164, Article No. 113988.

Han, C, Jia, F, Jiang, M and Chen, L (2022), Modern slavery in Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review, International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications (Open Access).

Bag, S and Dhamija, P (2022), Research Progress on Working Conditions in Supply Chains: A Comprehensive Literature Review and Future Research Propositions, The TQM Journal, Vol. 35 No. 8, pp. 2282-2303.

See LinkedIn article, Modern Slavery Acts Combating Child and Forced Labor: Part 1, January 9, 2024.