France First Country to Put Legal Teeth Behind Claims of Supply Chain Dilligence
SEAFOODNEWS.COM by John Sackton November 16, 2017
Both in the UK and in California there are laws on the books that require companies to report on corporate efforts to remove slavery or trafficking from their supply chains.
However, these reporting laws have little legal consequences behind them if a company fails to uncover slavery or trafficking in its supply chain.
However, a French Law, adopted this year called ‘duty of care’ or Devoir de Vigilance, is believed to be the first law that puts a legal liability on companies with a standard of conduct regarding human trafficking. Victims of trafficking can seek damages for negligence from these companies in French courts.
“Now, if they make a statement about a policy to address unethical recruitment there is an obligation to actually follow it through,” says Ed Marcum, managing director of Humanity United, a human rights-focused foundation to the Financial Times.
The French law currently only applies to companies with more than 5000 employees, of which there are between 100 and 200 in France.
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