Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery in English

Remedy Remains Rare – An analysis of 15 years of NCP cases and their contribution to improve access to remedy for victims of corporate misconduct (2015) (http://oecdwatch.org/publications-en/Publication_4201).

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^ See also, for example, the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative and the International Organization for Migration initiative on ethical recruitment.

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^ For example, the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition has adopted a “no fees” policy for its members.

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^ For example, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Patagonia, Gap Inc., Coca Cola, the Arcadia Group and Philip Morris International.

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^ Voluntary commitments to transparency are, for example, required by companies that use the framework established by the Global Reporting Initiative.

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^ www.fairtrade.net.

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^ www.goodweave.org.

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^ For example, the Fair Wear Foundation or Fair Labour Association, both of which address apparel only.

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^ Such as Social Accountability International and the Ethical Trading Initiative. The latter developed a Base Code guiding its members to comply with ILO standards (e.g. fair recruitment, humane working conditions, decent work and a living wage) as a means of preventing forced labour and other contemporary forms of slavery (see www.ethicaltrade.org/eti-base-code).

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^ Including the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation and the International Cocoa Initiative. Both participate in the Child Labour Platform, a thematic membership‐based work stream of the Human Rights and Labour Working Group of the Global Compact, opened to companies, other United Nations agencies, trade unions, business associations and other relevant stakeholders, and focused on child labour, particularly in supply chains.

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^ For example, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Responsible Jewellery Council.

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^ www.projectissara.org.

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^ For signatories, see www.pactonacional.com.br

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^ The Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility “No fees” Initiative targets the risk of debt bondage faced by migrant workers resulting from fee-charging for recruitment and employment services and uses the strength and influence of investors to target 12 companies in the palm oil and seafood sectors to clearly demonstrate their commitment to respect human rights (www.iccr.org/no-fees-initiative).

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^ A well-known example is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which mobilized consumers in the Campaign for Fair Food and led to successful prosecutions for slavery on tomato farms in the United States.

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^ For example, after a report by the Fair Labor Association that Nestlé was using child labour in its cocoa supply chain, the company strengthened its Nestlé Cocoa Plan, adopting all recommendations. (The case is cited together with other examples in the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, “Persisting Harm: Corporate Responsibility and Accountability for Human Trafficking and Slavery” (forthcoming, on file).)

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^ See www.ungpreporting.org. Early adopters include Unilever, Nestlé, H&M and Newmont.

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^ Right to an effective remedy for violations of international human rights law can be found in a number of international and regional instruments. See also Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.

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^ See for instance, International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association for an example in the global oil and gas industry (“Operational level grievance mechanisms: good practice survey”, www.ipieca.org/publication/operational-level-grievance-mechanisms-good-practice-survey).

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^ For a comprehensive account of barriers to access to remedies, see Gwynne Skinner and others, The Third Pillar: access to judicial remedies for human rights violations by transnational businesses (2013, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable). The report seeks to understand which barriers are most insurmountable for victims of abuses of human rights by transnational business and to provide recommendations for each of the jurisdictions examined regarding how the States can better fulfil their duty to reduce these barriers. On the right to an effective remedy, see also the OHCHR initiative on enhancing accountability and access to remedy in cases of business involvement in human rights abuses (www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/OHCHRstudyondomesticlawremedies.aspx), progress report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on legal options and practical measures to improve access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuses (A/HRC/29/39) and A/HRC/17/35.

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^ Available at www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/10-1491_l6gn.pdf.

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^ See International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, “Persisting Harm”.

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^ In the commentary to principle 17 of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, it is acknowledged that, where businesses have large numbers of entities in their value chains it may be unreasonably difficult to conduct due diligence for adverse human rights impacts across them all. If so, business enterprises should identify general areas where the risk is most significant, whether due to certain suppliers’ or clients’ operating context, the particular operations, products or services involved, or other relevant considerations, and prioritize these for human rights due diligence.

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^ In this context it is noteworthy that the Freedom Fund has provided a grant to Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) to develop a Modern Slavery Accountability Database, an online database of national laws and regulations on individual and corporate accountability for modern slavery.

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^ The Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, in its report, addressed the role business can play in the finalization of the proposed sustainable development goals (A/HRC/29/28).

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