Voluntary Standards for Addressing Modern Slavery
Having described some of the traditional regulatory efforts to address MS, the following section will discuss widely adopted standards and frameworks that represent different approaches to addressing the problem.
United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) of 2011 are an example of voluntary guidelines that some companies have publicly adopted. These require companies to respect human rights in their own activities and in their supply chains (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner 2011). As of 2019, the UNGP Reporting Database included disclosures from 124 companies in 11 sectors (Shift 2019).
From a positive point of view, they encourage transparent policy commitments and a due diligence process that at a minimum assesses potential adverse human rights impacts, prevents and mitigates them, communicates how they are being addressed, and ensures remediation for those affected (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner 2011). From a more critical perspective, these guidelines are often not fully implemented, leaving workers unprotected and cases of abuse with little or no remediation. For example, many companies don’t incorporate human rights issues into their supply contracts, nor do they communicate how they are doing their due diligence (Human Rights Watch 2016). Additional analysis has found that of the companies in the UNGP database, only 45% explicitly commit to respecting all internationally recognized human rights — which is what Principle 12 of the UNGP would require them to do (Langlois 2016).
OECD
Starting in the mining sector, the OECD has established clear, detailed, actionable steps for due diligence procedures. After holding several rounds of consultations with industry leaders, governments from the Great Lakes Region (from which the majority of minerals for electronics come from), and civil society, the OECD defined a proactive on-going process that brings together local governments, international mining companies, unions and non profits for respecting human rights and avoid contributing to armed conflict (Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD 2018). A similar initiative founded in 2003 targeted the diamond trade: the Kimberley Process brought together global stakeholders with the goal of eliminating conflict diamonds from trade. As of 2019, they claim a 99% success rate among member companies (Kimberley Process 2019).
Overall, the OECD due diligence guidance for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (Guidelines) was initially approved in 2010 and is now in its third edition (OECD 2016a). It recognizes three major phases: identifying circumstances in the supply chain (from extraction to end product), identifying and assessing risks, and preventing and mitigating risks. For private actors looking to implement best practices for extractives of minerals, the guidelines provide very specific recommendations and an easy to follow five-step framework that includes establishing strong company management systems -communicating the policy and incorporating it into supplier contracts, establishing a chain of custody and traceability system, and a grievance mechanism-, a path for assessing risks, implementing a strategy to respond to risks, third party audits, and reporting (OECD 2016b, 2018a). Additionally, the Guidelines include as an annex a Model Supply Chain Policy that can be adapted to fit the needs of particular organization (OECD 2016b, 2018b). They also identify reputable sector initiatives that may be joined.
One of the lasting corollary impacts of the Guidelines is that they have since been extended to other sectors (garment and footwear, agriculture, and finance) and recently extended them further to include due diligence for all multinational enterprises (Responsible Business Alliance 2018). In 2011 the OECD added a human rights due diligence chapter to its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (Tebar and Bijelic 2017), and in 2018 the OECD Council adopted a general Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct which applies to all sectors (RBC Guidance) (OECD 2018c). The same year that the RBC Guidance was adopted, the OECD issued a recommendation for all member states to take active steps to implement and enforce it. Several countries, including France, have already enacted due diligence legislation as a result of this call to action (Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD 2018).
At a regional level, there is the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process), a forum started in 2002 for policy dialogue that purports to convene key decision makers from South East Asia to identify best practices, share information, and measure progress (Bali Process 2018; Department of State 2018).
Sustainable Development Goals
Looking beyond ratified international labor protocols and domestic requirements, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda in 2015. At its core are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that provide a roadmap for stakeholders to prioritize their actions and improve livelihoods around the world. They are non-binding and were initially conceived as placing the main responsibility on countries and local governments for implementation (United Nations 2019). Over time, many companies have adhered to the 2030 agenda and now publicly disclose how their operations are related to each of the 17 SDGs. This adherence can be at least partially explained by the positive impacts that it has for the business. As a recent Deloitte report found, alignment with the SDGs allows companies to retain better talent, gain consumer recognition, partner with local communities, establish a constructive dialogue with regulatory agents, and be recognized by investors as leaders in this space (Deloitte 2017). A widely cited report from 2017 found that the SDGs open up the opportunity for $12 trillion in savings and revenue (Business and Sustainable Development Commission 2017; Sustainable Development Goals — Resource Centre 2017). Problematically, advances towards one goal may be to the detriment of another. For example, developing large scale clean energy sources may displace vulnerable populations (Karbassi and Eccles 2018).
Of particular relevance for the topic of forced labor is SDG 8 which promotes “sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” (Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct 2017). Dignified working conditions are also closely related to poverty reduction (SDG 1), hunger reduction (SDG 2), health (SDG 3), and women’s empowerment (SDG 5). Having a stable, legal source of income provides individuals and their families with the means to satisfy their needs and materialize some complementary rights. One of the relative advantages of the SDG’s is that they are closely linked to the traditional framework of human rights (Shift and Business and Sustainable Development Commission 2016). This makes it easier to align with local legal frameworks and reduces the need for large-scale formal adaptations to comply.
Notwithstanding the importance of the gols, a recent analysis has found that the greatest gaps in achievement of the SDG’s is precisely in its economic, jobs, and gender elements (OECD 2017; Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform 2019). In other words, progress towards achieving the goals has been slowest in these components. We argue that part of this gap can be explained by the generic nature of the recommendations and the difficulties in measuring progress. For example, the ILO in 2014 recommended taking “immediate and effective measures to eradicate and end modern slavery and human trafficking”, implementing international labor standards, and ratifying international protocols (ILO 2014b). What sort of measures qualify as immediate and effective? How does an actor demonstrate progress? Part of what makes measuring progress difficult is that prevalence statistics have been captured using different methodologies and over different time spans by different countries and there are only nascent efforts to create standardized metrics (ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch 2018). This results in data that is not necessarily comparable. The ILO itself recognizes that its own estimates of prevalence of forced labor from 2005, 2012, and 2016 did not use the same methodologies nor data sources. Thus, “due to substantial differences in scopes, methodologies, regional groupings and expanded data sources, the 2016 global estimates are not directly comparable with the 2005 and 2012 ILO estimates” (ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch 2018, 32).
The following table provides a summary of voluntary guidelines. They show a transition towards due diligence in broader sectors and an increasing body of multilateral initiatives to address it.
Summary of Voluntary Guidelines relevant to addressing MS
The efficacy of these “soft”, non-enforceable initiatives has been put into doubt and some consider that it is unlikely that they will lead to a significant increase in worker wellbeing as (Locke 2013). This partially explains the pressure and interest behind novel regulatory frameworks that are binding and provide for adverse consequences if non-compliance is demonstrated. That being said, the importance of the UNGP may be in its symbolic value: they set the standard for the desirable end goal and the aspiration. As such, they establish the parameters of what is to be considered “good behavior” and allow parties that are leaders in this field to raise the bar.
Furthermore, there are trade and commercial incentives for adherence: importers to the EU have to prove compliance, the Dodd Frank rule of the US SEC also requires it, and the London Metal Exchange gave a 2020 deadline for compliance (OECD 2016). Part of the difficulty is in what exactly is proven by “being compliant”. As was mentioned in the case of the UK MSA, an organization can be compliant by stating they are taking no action. For businesses, part of the interest in achieving the SDG’s is that they can open up an estimated $12 trillion in new markets (OECD Emerging Markets Sector 2018).
Overall, forced labor is an immense problem that affects a significant proportion of the working population and their ability to exercise their rights. This has created a response that relies on international law conventions, local legislation, and more recently, disclosure requirements and general frameworks that link the elimination of forced labor with the broader notion of sustainable development. The efficacy of these instruments has been insufficient to eliminate the problem and private actors are being called upon to play a more active role.
References
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Deloitte. 2017. 2030 Purpose: Good Business and a Better Future Connecting Sustainable Development with Enduring Commercial Success. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-2030-purpose-report.pdf (October 30, 2019).
Department of State. 2018. “2018 Trafficking in Persons Report.” : 486.
Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct. 2017. “Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals through Responsible Business Conduct.” https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/global-forum/2017-GFRBC-Session-Note-Contributing-to-SDGs.pdf (May 29, 2019).
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— — — . 2016b. OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas. Third edition. Paris: OECD Publishing.
— — — . 2017. “Measuring Distance to the SDG Targets.” http://www.oecd.org/sdd/OECD-Measuring-Distance-to-SDG-Targets.pdf (May 29, 2019).
— — — . 2018a. “Alignment Assessment of Industry Programmes with the OECD Guidelines.” http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/Highlights-Alignment-Assessment-of-industry-programmes-with-the-OECD-minerals-guidance.pdf (May 29, 2019).
— — — . 2018b. “OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Minerals — 5-Step Framework for Upstream and Downstream Supply Chains.” https://mneguidelines.oecd.org/5%20Step%20Framework_A3.pdf (November 3, 2019).
— — — . 2018c. “OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct.” https://www.oecd.org/investment/due-diligence-guidance-for-responsible-business-conduct.htm (November 3, 2019).
OECD Emerging Markets Sector. 2018. “Policy Note on Sustainability: Better Business for 2030.” https://www.oecd.org/dev/SDG2017_Better_Business_2030_Putting_SDGs_Core_Web.pdf (May 29, 2019).
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