Risk Averse: Company Reporting on raw material and sector-specific risks under the Transparency in Supply Chains clause in the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015
The UK Modern Slavery Act requires all firms with annual turnover above £36 million to publish a Slavery & Human Trafficking Statement each year, outlining their actions to eradicate slavery in supply chains. The deadline for companies reporting under the Act was 30 September 2017. Company statements can be viewed on the Modern Slavery Registry.
Marking the first year of reporting, CORE looked at how 50 top companies are reporting on known slavery and trafficking risks in their operations and supply chains. The report, Risk Averse: Company Reporting on raw material and sector-specific risks under the Transparency in Supply Chains clause in the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 examines statements from 25 businesses who source raw materials and commodities associated with a heightened risk of modern slavery – cocoa from West Africa, mined gold, mica from India, palm oil from Indonesia and tea from Assam – and 25 operating in sectors known to be at heightened risk of labour rights abuses: apparel and footwear, construction, hospitality, Premier League football and service outsourcing.
We explore if and how companies include information on the particular raw material and sector-specific risks in their statements, looking at the description of their operations and supply chains and their due diligence. We also look at additional information available on company websites, to examine the extent to which companies are making connections between the risk of slavery and wider labour rights issues such as wages and working hours, and the price paid for raw materials.
Links to our report and associated documents
- Risk Averse: Company Reporting on raw material and sector-specific risks under the Transparency in Supply Chains clause in the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015
- Press release: Modern slavery: top companies fail to name supply chain risks
- Report executive summary
- Hilton’s response to CORE’s report and our reply
Media coverage of the report
- ‘Major companies fail to disclose slavery and trafficking risks’, warn UK experts, covered in Reuters, The Independent, and the Daily Mail
- ‘Path to illegal behaviour’: UK accused of failing to press home anti-slavery law, The Guardian
- ‘Companies must do more to end modern slavery’, The Times
- ‘Food sector urged to follow Unilever and Nestlé on tackling slave labour’, The Food Navigator
- ‘Criticised for overlooking slavery risks, L’Oreal keeps eye on mica, executive says’, Reuters
- ‘Big companies fail to disclose slavery supply chain risks’, blog by CORE Director for Anti-Slavery International
- ‘L’Oréal se défend face aux soupçons de travail forcé concernant ses sous-traitants’, Fashion Network
- ‘La faiblesse des prix du cacao risque d’aggraver l’esclavage moderne’, CommodAfrica
- ‘Zero tolerance: L’Oréal responds to allegations in new report on slavery risks’ Global Cosmetics News
- ‘UK Experts: Major Companies Fail to Disclose Slavery Risks’ Finance.co.uk
- ‘Major Brands Ignore Modern Slavery Act’ Eastern Eye
- Leading companies lack transparency over risks of modern slavery in supply chains, reveals new report’ Financier Worldwide
- “Food companies ‘lack transparency’ on slavery risks in supply chains” Sustain
- Norton Rose Fulbright Blog
- ‘Tackling modern-day slavery within global supply chains’, Financier Worldwide
- ‘Crackdown on company compliance with slavery’, Economia