A/HRC/40/48 I. Introduction 1. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9 of 26 June 2014 and mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. 2. The working group’s fourth session, which took place from 15 to 19 October 2018, opened with a statement from the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. She congratulated the Chair-Rapporteur on the release of the draft legally binding instrument and the draft optional protocol, noting that those drafts marked a key milestone and provided a welcome basis for the start of substantive negotiations. The instrument should focus on the needs of people affected by business-related human rights abuses and take into account the differential impact that such abuses had on different groups of rights holders. Noting that there was no inherent conflict between the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the development of a legally binding instrument, she stressed that the treaty process should build on the progress made with the Guiding Principles and relevant initiatives aimed at improving access to remedy for victims of corporate abuses, such as the Accountability and Remedy Project of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). She noted the shared goal and aspirations among those present to end corporate abuse, expressed deep appreciation for the civil society organizations driving the process forward and recalled the aims of the process. Finally, she invited all stakeholders to engage constructively and work collaboratively during the session. II. Organization of the session A. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 3. The Permanent Representative of Ecuador, Luis Gallegos, was elected ChairRapporteur by acclamation following his nomination, on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, by the delegation of Mexico. B. Attendance 4. The list of participants, the list of panellists and the summary of statements by panellists are contained in annexes I, II and III, respectively. C. Documentation 5. The working group had before it the following documents: (a) Human Rights Council resolution 26/9; (b) The provisional agenda of the working group (A/HRC/WG.16/4/1); (c) Other documents, including the Chair-Rapporteur’s zero draft legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the Chair-Rapporteur’s zero draft optional protocol to the draft instrument and a programme of work, all of which were made available to the working group on its website.1 1 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Session4/Pages/Session4.aspx. 3