Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has announced that the Government will legislate to require the largest businesses operating in the UK to identify, assess and address the risk of human rights abuses and labour exploitation in their operations and supply chains.
Setting out the plans in a written statement to Parliament, Reynolds said a review of the UK's approach to responsible business conduct had found the current framework for preventing forced labour to be fragmented and overly reliant on voluntary action and reporting, leaving the UK out of step with G7 partners and other major trading economies.
Who will be covered
The new mandatory human rights due diligence regime will apply across the UK for services and in Great Britain for goods. It will cover UK businesses with a global turnover of more than £350 million and non-UK businesses with a UK-generated turnover above the same threshold, and will be aligned with the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
A regulator will be able to investigate businesses suspected of placing goods made with forced labour on the market and, where due diligence duties have not been met and forced labour is identified, direct their withdrawal. In Northern Ireland, the EU's Forced Labour Regulation will apply under the Windsor Framework.
Reynolds: 'This Government will not countenance exploitation'
"The British public rightly expect that products sold in the United Kingdom are not tainted by forced labour," Reynolds said. "Responsible businesses should not be undercut by those that turn a blind eye to exploitation. And this Government will not countenance exploitation in the supply chains that serve the UK market."
A central guidance hub on responsible business conduct will also be set up to help firms developing due diligence processes for the first time. The Government will work with stakeholders on the detail and introduce the measures as soon as parliamentary time allows.
