A/HRC/35/37 initiative for labour recruiters that offers a certification system to recognize ethical recruiters on the basis of an evaluation of their compliance with the IRIS Code of Conduct. Based on the ILO labour standards, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and good practices in the industry, the Code of Conduct also includes principles on the prohibition of charging recruitment fees to jobseekers, respect for freedom of movement, respect for transparency of terms and conditions of employment, respect for confidentiality and data protection and respect for access to remedy. 26. Responding to a lack of State regulation and poor enforcement of international standards, as well as to consumer demand for greater levels of transparency and compliance with those standards, businesses have also tried to address these issues through a commitment to voluntary standards and assurance programmes, by establishing their own programmes or by engaging with a multi-stakeholder initiative. How trafficking in persons is addressed by such initiatives is the focus of the present report. B. Scope of the report 27. In 2016, together with Verité, an international non-governmental organization, the Special Rapporteur, thanks to earmarked contributions received for this purpose, launched a new project building on the previous work carried out under the mandate on addressing the risks of trafficking in persons in global supply chains. The goal of the project is to reduce the vulnerability that workers face in supply chains and tackle the risks of trafficking in persons by strengthening multi-stakeholder and industry-based strategies, and to promote the catalysing effect of multi-stakeholder initiatives and industry coalitions to enhance efforts made by businesses to improve their policies and measures to address trafficking in persons and other types of labour violations. 28. In 2016, the mandate holder conducted a mapping of multi-stakeholder and industrybased initiatives active in different industries, including fishing, aluminium, electronics, coffee and tea. The mapping was a first step towards engagement with these initiatives through bilateral dialogue and two consultations. The objective was to identify and understand challenges, lessons learned and good practices in detecting and addressing trafficking in persons and labour exploitation. 29. The first of the two consultations targeted participants in multi-stakeholder initiatives and industry coalitions; the second was aimed at representatives from companies that perform social audits and other types of supply chain assessments. 30. Each consultation began with a framing of current trends in supply chains and strategies to tackle risks of human trafficking. This included a focus on the inherent complexity of supply chain production and the challenges related to enhancing visibility and accountability beyond first-tier manufacturers and producers. The subcontracting and outsourcing of diverse stages of production makes it increasingly difficult for companies to monitor and address working conditions and human rights in a systematic and comprehensive way. Industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives face the same challenges, with important consequences for the validity of their sustainability and rights-based claims. Moreover, supply chains are not only increasingly complex along product chains, but also highly stratified in terms of labour supply. Third-party recruitment and employment agencies are a growing feature of supply chain production, which has important consequences for voluntary initiatives. 31. Strategies to promote transparency in supply chains at the legislative level are enhanced by efforts to go beyond auditing in supply chain due diligence, to integrate workers’ voices and empowerment through new policy, communications and grievance mechanisms, and to increase company focus on remedy and the strengthening of corrective action. These trends and others formed the basis of the consultations. 7