On May, 3, 2023, the House of Commons passed Bill S-211, An Act to enact the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act and to amend the Customs Tariff (the Act). The Act introduces a public...more
After several stalled efforts in recent years (see previous Bennett Jones blog posts on Bill C-423 and Bill S-216), Parliament is poised to pass a supply chain transparency law aimed at preventing and reducing the risk of...more
The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s aggression in Ukraine have disrupted supply chains and heightened the need for supply chain due diligence to ensure business continuity and sustainability. Coupled with these events are...more
Key Takeaways - Slave, forced, and child labor is a modern-day reality impacting some 40 million people throughout the world, by some estimates. Such practices are—and have always been—repugnant, and certainly have no place...more
The strategic value of paying attention to areas that benchmarks assess - Some companies are skeptical about engaging with human rights and ESG benchmarking, because they question whether human rights and ESG disclosures...more
As this space has addressed before, the California Transparency in Supply Chain Act (Civ. Code section 1714.43), enacted in 2010, requires large retailers and manufacturers (those with worldwide sales in excess of $100...more
In 2010, California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (the “Act”). The goal of the Act is to curtail human trafficking and slavery by requiring certain manufacturers and retailers doing business in...more
[Warning: The juxtaposition of the jolly old man and forced labor is not to make light of human rights violations but to highlight the hidden evils in supply chains and the potential reputational damage to wholesome brands.] ...more
It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes: new reports on the U.S. National Action Plan on Responsible...more
Amnesty International recently released a report alleging that supply chains for production of palm oil—a common ingredient in many consumer products—are tainted by forced and child labor. In the nearly 150-page report titled...more
The holiday retail season is an ideal time to check that forced labor and bribery—two top and interconnected supply-chain threats—do not undermine the success of your critical sales period. Not long ago, many in the...more
Five years ago, on June 16, 2011, the way we view the human rights responsibilities of companies changed. On that day, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and...more
Time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This past week’s post includes: Apple’s refusal to comply with a federal court order; a new report...more
Companies face a range of new requirements and expectations calling for enhanced transparency regarding human rights-related risks in connection with their operations. Responsible compliance with both mandatory requirements...more
It’s Friday and time for our latest overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes notice of several new lawsuits regarding human rights concerns...more
Recent class actions have claimed that companies have violated California consumer fraud and unfair competition laws resulting from alleged forced labor in their global supply chains. These state law claims argue that...more
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 comes into force next month. The UK is at the forefront of a global move to tackle human trafficking and prevent slavery in supply chains. In June the G7 leaders declared their commitment to the...more
Companies that do business in the United Kingdom should assess their exposure to the U.K. Modern Slavery Act, which goes into effect this October. The transparency provisions of the Act are applicable to companies that do any...more
In late July, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced H.R. 3226, the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. The bill, if passed, would require companies to file annual reports with...more
At the conclusion of the G7 Summit held on June 7 and 8, the assembled leaders released a declaration endorsing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Specifically, leaders of the United States, the United...more
Two years ago, in October 2010, I published a post, Human Rights Due Diligence and the Corporate Lawyer, that addressed the need for corporate counsel to assess stakeholder expectations that companies should be accountable...more