The European Commission has released a guidance dated July 12, 2021 on “Due Diligence for EU Businesses to Address the Risk of Forced Labour in their Operations and Supply Chains”. While the EU based legislative proposal for a mandatory environmental and human rights due diligence law is yet to be passed, release of this guidance seems helpful as businesses can no longer ignore the human rights risks that might arise due to their operations.
The purpose of the guidance is to provide European companies with practical guidance to implement effective human rights due diligence practices to address the risk of forced labour in their supply chains. In particular, the guidance explains the practical aspects of due diligence and provides an overview of international standards on responsible business conduct and due diligence that are relevant for combatting forced labour.
The guidance defines the forced labour as:
The internationally recognised definition of forced labour is to be found in ILO Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily”.
The Guidance only addresses the risk of forced labour and does not cover due diligence for other supply chain risks. Businesses are encouraged to assess the potential exposure of their supply chain to activities causing or contributing to human rights abuses or violations and to implement appropriate due diligence policies to ensure compliance with international due diligence and labour standards on forced labour.
Read the Guidance HERE.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has put this story together.