A/HRC/24/43 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 19

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