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textile industry. The agency offers “certificates of quality” to firms that refrain from using
forced labour and provide their employees with decent working conditions. Participating
companies granted the certificate are eligible to bid on lucrative State textile contracts. In a
similar spirit, the Plurinational State of Bolivia operates a certification programme called
the Triple Seal, which is designed to encourage compliance with national labour laws and
awarded to companies that prohibit child labour, discrimination and forced labour across
their entire supply chains.
76.
Consumer countries and countries in which companies are headquartered have also
taken action to prevent contemporary forms of slavery. In the United States, the California
Transparency in Supply Chains Act, which took effect on 1 January 2012, states that human
trafficking and forced labour are state, federal and international crimes. The Act requires
that all retailers and manufacturers with annual worldwide revenues in excess of USD 100
million disclose information about their efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery
from their supply chains so that consumers’ purchasing decisions can be better informed.
These disclosures must be posted on the companies’ websites and include information
about efforts to eradicate slavery from their supply chains, including verification, supplier
audits, certifications, accountability standards and training. Failure to disclose this
information by 30 November 2012 could allow for legal actions brought by the Attorney
General of California.
77.
Of course, companies are ultimately responsible for meeting their legal and moral
obligations to prevent contemporary forms of slavery in their supply chains, and NGOs and
multi-stakeholder initiatives have emerged to provide practical guidance to companies
seeking to meet their obligations under national law, international standards and voluntary
principles. The Fair Hiring Toolkit, developed by Verité and launched in 2011, gives
companies comprehensive guidance on improving their codes of conduct, strengthening
their social audits, and better understanding the complexities and risks of contemporary
forms of slavery in their supply chains.
VII. Conclusions and recommendations
78.
In recent years, contemporary slavery has drawn increasing attention from
Governments and stakeholders around the world, although this attention remains
insufficient to the task of its eradication. A number of international instruments have
defined and prohibited, inter alia, debt bondage, serfdom, servile marriage, child
slavery, forced labour and traditional forms of slavery.
79.
A number of stakeholders have begun to take action to combat slavery in its
contemporary forms. However, there are key challenges that prevent the reduction of
slavery, including legal and policy challenges and institutional and implementation
challenges. Among the legal and policy challenges are the absence of legislation in
some countries, deficiencies and loopholes in legal frameworks, insufficiently
dissuasive sanctions and laws that increase the vulnerability of workers. Institutional
and implementation challenges include corruption, government failure to recognize
the existence of contemporary slavery, a lack of political will and/or resources, the
difficulty of locating and identifying victims, and a failure to adequately protect
affected workers and provide sustained programmes for their effective rehabilitation.
80.
Nevertheless, a series of good practices at international, regional, and country
levels provide us with examples of the way forward. Among these are improvements
to legislation, enforcement efforts, awareness-raising and prevention activities, and
the identification, protection and rehabilitation of victims. The Special Rapporteur
held follow up workshops in Brazil, Ecuador, Mauritania and Peru which resulted in
action plans to implement her recommendations. Her recommendations included the
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