Question 2 – what should global supply chain governance look like?
First of all, global supply chain governance cannot have a global one size fits all solution. Governance programmes need to be tailored to the particular risks of different countries and regions, sectors and business partners. Just as with other forms of trafficking and slavery, vulnerabilities to forced labour arise out of a number of different factors, from precarious immigration status to the socio-political, economic and geographical particularities of a region. The reason that Bangladesh, Haiti and Cambodia, for example, are growing factory hubs is not related to an abundance of natural resources. Rather, it is related to the fact that these countries are coming out of civil wars and are home to an impoverished labour force. In regions with low levels of stability and scarce job opportunities, workers end up having to take whatever job they can in order to survive. This limited choice makes these workers vulnerable to insecure and exploitative work conditions, including forced labour. Slave drivers are often then ready to exploit that vulnerability situation for profit.
In many global supply chains, a few large firms are supplied by a competitive market of lower-tier suppliers often in poorly regulated jurisdictions, displacing risk down the chain. In countries with weaker regulations, the bottom-level suppliers are left having to deal with rapid changes in order specifications and turnaround times, and the workers, in need of any work, are forced to deal with highly flexible and often exploitative working conditions.
