Early December, over 100 NGOs, trade unions and networks stress their demands for binding rules on corporate respect for human rights and the environment. They point out that although some companies are taking actions to meet their responsibilities in their global operations, there are many others linked to serious abuses, including modern slavery, gender discrimination, corruption, deforestation, etc. Current EU policy and legislation fails to adequately address this challenge. They propose that 1) companies and investors are required to carry out human rights andenvironmental due diligence; 2) new binding EU legislation that increases protection for individuals and communities, workers and their representatives, human rights defenders, and the environment, is passed.

The US Customs Border Authority has banned the import of products from certain companies accused of modern slavery violations. The law came into effect in 2016 but this action shows that it can have teeth.

One of the five products/companies was a garment factory in Xinjiang, China, and another one a Malaysian rubber glove factory. The latter was accused of withholding wages, excessive recruitment fees and withholding of passports in a Guardian report back in December 2018 here.

Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) jointly published Towards Better Modern Slavery Reporting, a review of global modern slavery legislation. It highlighted gaps in legislation and provides clear recommendations for governments and companies to enhance future modern slavery reporting.

A private member's Bill was introduced in Canada to introduce mandatory company reporting on childlabour and modern slavery through the imposition of certain measures and amending the Customs Tariff. The draft can be found here. It now requires government approval to pass.

The Australian Modern Slavery Act passed in December 2018. The Act sets a Modern Slavery Reporting Requirement to require certain large businesses and other entities in Australia to make annual public reports - Modern Slavery Statements - on their actions to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains.

The rise of robots in manufacturing in Southeast Asia is likely to fuel modern-day slavery as workers who end up unemployed due to automation face abuses competing for a shrinking pool of low-paid jobs in a “race to the bottom”. Especially, the workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines — at least 137 million people — risk losing their jobs because of the automation in the next two decades. Those workers are more vulnerable to workplace abuses as they jostle for fewer jobs at lower wages.

Labour agencies often play an important role in providing temporary workers to suppliers during peak times, helping you to avoid excessive working hours for supplier staff. But they also pose the modern slavery risks in their supply chains. In responding to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to help you reduce the modern slavery risks in the supplier chains. The Book Chain Project developed a Labour Agency Modern Slavery Checklist (“the Checklist”) to ensure that agency workers are not at risk from modern slavery. The members of the Book Chain project need your help to prevent modern slavery in the supply chain.

Luxury fashion retailer Hugo Boss said it has found cases of forced labour, a form of modern slavery, in its supply chain. Young female workers have been held captive behind the walls of garment factories in southern India and prevented from leaving the premises at any time.

Due to the changes of international landscape for businesses and user feedback, the new version SMETA report 6.0 has published since April 2017 and took effect from 1 June 2017. The document outlined the main differences between SMETA 5.0 and the new SMETA 6.0 in terms of UNCP, modern slavery, business ethics, company codes and simplified SMETA.

The Co-op has announced to offer jobs to victims of the modern slave trade as part of a new scheme. The group has teamed up with charity City Hearts, which offers support and accommodation to vulnerable people, to provide 30 survivors of modern slavery with paid work experience in its food business. Following the placement, the survivors will be given a non-competitive interview and, if it is successful and a position is vacant, be offered a job.