New Report Helps Companies Meet and Exceed Requirements to Eliminate Human Trafficking from Supply Chains
For Release: January 29, 2013
(Washington, D.C.) The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) issued a report today, “Beyond SB 657: How Businesses Can Meet and Exceed California’s Requirements to Prevent Forced Labor in Supply Chains.” This path breaking report provides guiding principles for companies required to comply with California’s pioneering anti-trafficking law and for any company working to eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.
Under the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657) retail sellers and manufacturers doing business in California and having $100 million or more in annual worldwide gross receipts must inform their consumers about what the company is doing to end human trafficking and slavery within their supply chains. ATEST estimates that approximately 3,200 businesses will likely be required to comply.
“If California were a separate country, California’s economy would be in the top 10 largest economies worldwide. Effective efforts to eliminate human trafficking in supply chains of companies doing business in the state could prevent untold numbers of people worldwide from being trapped into what is essentially modern slavery,” stated David Abramowitz, Director of ATEST and Vice President, Policy and Government Relations, Humanity United. “This report aims to make it easier for companies to comply and even go beyond California’s requirements to eliminate forced labor in supply chains and we hope it will serve as a model for action by all companies committed to having modern sourcing practices that avoid human trafficking.”
In the coming months, ATEST will release results of on-going research on hundreds of company disclosures in order to demonstrate how the law is—and is not—leading to changes in corporate practice around trafficking.
Key elements of the report include details on:
- tracing and verification of product supply chains
- quality supplier audits
- approaches to prevention
- internal accountability standards
- mapping high risk areas
- empowerment of workers and vulnerable communities
- employee and management training, and
- public posting of a company’s engagement towards eliminating human trafficking and slavery within supply chains
Download Report