Hugh Helferty, Executive-in-Residence at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University, YES.
To me, the answer to this question is very clear: Yes, ending forced labour and modern-day slavery in global supply chains requires binding legislation, rather than corporate self-regulation and self-disclosure. While corporate self-regulation and self-disclosure might gradually reduce forced labour and modern-day slavery, binding legislation is necessary to end it in global supply chains.
In considering this question, it is helpful to divide companies with global supply chains into three groups. First, there are companies with global supply chains that are already ‘clean’ – that is, free of forced labour. They may be this way because of deliberate action or by happenstance – the supply chain may have begun and stayed clean. The challenge for these companies is to have and sustain systems to proactively keep their supply chains clean. Well developed and resourced systems and processes are essential to keep something as complex as a global supply chain free of forced labour.
