Towards Sustainable and Ethical Supply Chains

Towards Sustainable and Ethical Supply Chains

Did you know that the production of one electronic device can involve up to 1,000 suppliers? Now consider that 90 per cent of forced labour happens within supply chains. In today’s globalized economy, where materials and labour are sourced from all around the world, can you be certain that the devices you use on a daily basis, your computer, phone, television, tablet, oven, washing machine or radio, were not produced by persons who have been trafficked or exploited?

The larger the scope of a supply chain, often with multiple tiers of subcontractors globally, the more difficult it is to be sure that goods and services procured were not produced by trafficked labour. International standards have recognized the duty of both businesses and governments to protect workers against human rights abuses and lessen the risks of unfair competition and loss of tax revenue to hidden company profits by businesses that abuse and exploit workers.

The OSCE has demonstrated political leadership in preventing trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation. The 2013 Addendum to the OSCE Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings advocates zero-tolerance policies in government procurement of goods and services. The 2011 Vilnius Ministerial Declaration encourages “participating States to work with the business sector to apply principles of due diligence and transparency in assessing and addressing risks of exploitation throughout the supply chain”.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, at its annual meeting in Helsinki in 2015, adopted the Resolution on Responsibility to Combat Human Trafficking in Government Contracts for Goods and Services. It calls on participating States to require by law and regulation that all government contracts for goods and services go only to businesses that have a plan in place to ensure that their subcontractors and employees do not participate in activities that contribute to or constitute human trafficking.

This December at the Ministerial Council in Hamburg the OSCE foreign ministers adopted Decision No. 4/2016 on Strengthening Good Governance and Promoting Connectivity. They stressed the determination of OSCE participating States to fight trafficking in human beings in all its forms and recognized the role that transparency and accountability in public procurement processes can play in preventing and combating human trafficking and labour exploitation. The decision tasks “relevant OSCE executive structures…to support participating States in exchanging best practices on raising awareness of the relevance of internationally recognized labour, social and environmental standards, and on strengthening good governance and promoting transparency in public procurement processes”, thereby reinforcing the economic aspect of addressing human trafficking for forced labour, which is critical to turning this crime from a lucrative activity motivated by greed into a high-risk and unprofitable undertaking.

The articles that follow show three examples of how businesses, governments and workers have found ways to prevent human trafficking through ethical sourcing, fair competition, the promotion of decent work and sustainable economic growth.

Special Section prepared by Aude Feltz, Junior Professional Officer in the Communication and Media Relations Section of the OSCE Secretariat, on the basis of information provided by Ruth Freedom Pojman, Senior Adviser in the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

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Publications by the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings:

Ending Exploitation: Ensuring that Businesses Do Not Contribute to Trafficking in Human Beings: Duties of States and the Private Sector (Occasional Paper Series No. 7, 2014) www.osce.org/secretariat/126305

Survey Report 2016 of Efforts to Implement OSCE Commitments and Recommended Actions to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings www.osce.org/secretariat/289951

Prevention of Trafficking for Labour Exploitation in Supply Chains (Conference Report, 2016) www.osce.org/secretariat/290106