ETI welcomes the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee’s report

Earlier this year, former ETI Executive Director, Peter McAllister gave evidence to the UK House of Lords Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee. This week, the Committee published its report aimed at providing post-legislative scrutiny on the Act and the changes needed to respond to the issues it aimed to address.

The UK Modern Slavery Act (‘the Act’) 2015

The House of Lords Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee’s report, 'The Modern Slavery Act 2015: Becoming World Leading Again(‘the report’), provides a useful summary of the requirements under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Act requires companies with a turnover of over £36 million to prepare a statement each financial year detailing the steps they have taken to address risks of slavery and human trafficking in their business and supply chains. The Act positioned the UK as the first country in the world to mandate reporting on modern slavery risks, but the report highlights continuing concerns over its implementation and enforcement. In particular, the report singles out the statements that companies are required to produce yearly as ‘inconsistent’ in quality and content. 

ETI welcomes the acknowledgement that change is required to ensure that the Act remains fit for purpose, and the recommendation to mandate the publication of statements on the government’s modern slavery registry. Through ETI’s frameworks on transparency, company progression and modern slavery evaluation , we assist businesses in developing their approach to risk assessment and measuring effectiveness through meaningful KPIs. We are also pleased that several ETI members have been identified in the report amongst those voluntarily performing heightened due diligence, highlighting the importance of collective action to go above and beyond the minimum requirements that are set out in the Act. 

Mandatory human rights due diligence legislation

We are pleased to see that the report acknowledges the deficiencies of voluntary due diligence and highlights the case for some requirements to be made mandatory. The report quotes our former Executive Director, Peter McAllister, “it is about relying […] on carefully thought-out regulation that rewards and encourages good behaviour, and ultimately holds companies to account if they fail to demonstrate that they take these sorts of issues seriously.”

Emerging legislation such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was mentioned in the report, with a conclusion that, “the UK has fallen behind”. What is vital is that UK businesses that operate overseas are supported to understand and comply with relevant new laws, to ensure continued respect for the human rights of workers in their supply chains. ETI is at the forefront of these efforts through its human right due diligence approach. To keep stakeholders up to date with upcoming legislation, for example, we have developed a legislation tracker that highlights the laws most likely to have an impact on business and human rights.

Import bans 

The report acknowledges the potential of import bans to assist in preventing the circulation of goods made with forced labour. However, this comes with the caveat that country-specific restrictions may have significant foreign policy implications. ETI’s consultations with their members also shed light on the risk of import bans leading to unintended consequences for workers. Peter McAllister highlighted that, “we have to be careful that we do not demonise parts of the world … It would really worry me if we suddenly decided that cocoa was essentially a demonised product because there is some forced labour and plenty of child labour”. 

Some ETI members also raised the concern that, if the UK falls behind in the rising adoption of import bans, it risks becoming a “dumping ground for tainted products”, which is a view that the report also shared. The recommendation on this issue was for the Government to consider introducing non-country-specific, “import laws which ban goods being brought into the UK if they are produced by certain companies known to use forced labour”.

Becoming world leading again

The Report makes clear a tide is turning on the UK’s approach to tackling these issues. It references the need for due diligence to go beyond modern slavery practices, to include other forms of exploitation such as sexual harassment, wage theft, and denial of trade union rights. Again, Peter McAllister is quoted, stating,

 “Modern slavery does not exist in a vacuum. The best way to tackle it is to make sure that we are shining a light on all forms of abuses and removing the space for modern slavery to exist.”

We welcome the Committee’s timely report and are heartened that on UK Anti-Slavery Day, the steps needed to tackle this pervasive issue, and others impacting workers worldwide, are being pushed forward in the houses of UK legislature. ETI will continue supporting responsible business taking action on these issues and advocating for stronger efforts to address human rights impacts in global supply chains.

“The Modern Slavery Act was leading in its time, but it is hugely encouraging to see legislation in other countries now moving ahead more comprehensively and constructively. This report highlights a range of improvements needed for the UK to keep step and return to leadership. I would urge the government to heed the report’s conclusions and strengthen protections for survivors of modern slavery and workers in the UK and abroad.”  Giles Bolton, Executive Director, ETI.