A/HRC/30/35
importation thereof is hereby prohibited”. The terms forced labour or/and indentured labour
include forced or indentured child labour.
38.
Restrictions on trade that has negative human rights impact is particularly relevant to
addressing slavery and slavery-like practices in supply chains. The Alliance to End Slavery
and Trafficking, and Humanity United have recently supported initiatives in the United
States Congress to strengthen human rights provisions in trade agreements. This followed a
proposed amendment to the Trade Act of 2015 42 to prohibit an international trade
agreement from receiving fast-track benefits if it involves a country that is not meeting
minimum standards in combating human trafficking. 43
39.
Although the assessment of the efficacy of these legislative developments in practice
is beyond the scope of the present report, they provide a snapshot of the issues that impact
on the challenge of States to regulate the human rights conduct of businesses operating
supply chains outside domestic economies. In these cases, risks and violations are often offshored, resulting in lack of redress under domestic laws, but having significant impact on
the human rights situation in developing economies. This results in challenges to effectively
address business-related human rights harms in supply chains and requires sustainable and
holistic solutions that involve all stakeholders in the supply chain.
D.
International framework for the responsibility of businesses to respect
human rights
40.
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every individual and every organ of
society is required to strive to contribute to the universal and effective recognition and
observance of human rights for all. While it is commonly accepted that under international
human rights law businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights, there is as yet no
international legal duty for them to protect human rights. Human rights due diligence, i.e. a
continuous process of identifying and addressing the human rights impact of a company
across its operations and products, and throughout its supplier and business partner
networks,44 is therefore the primary standard used to assess business compliance with its
human rights responsibilities.
41.
Under principle 12, of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
which in their second pillar clarify the business responsibility to respect human rights, this
responsibility applies to all internationally recognized human rights, understood, at a
minimum, as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. All businesses are required to
avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities,
address such impacts when they occur and seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights
impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business
relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts (principle 13). Under
principle 12 in conjunction with principle 13 (which refers to “business relationships” that
are understood to include relationships with business partners, entities in the value chain,
and any other non-State or State entity directly linked to its business operations, products or
services, i.e. entities in its supply chain beyond the first tier and indirect as well as direct
42
43
44
12
Available at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1314/text.
See David Abramowitz, “Trade legislation can help stop human trafficking”, The Hill, 10 June 2015
(http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/244538-trade-legislation-can-help-stop-humantrafficking).
See Frequently asked questions about the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.14.XIV.6), p. 27. Available from
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FAQ_PrinciplesBussinessHR.pdf.
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