UK Trade Minister Liz Truss should respond positively to an appeal to G7 Trade Ministers. The letter highlights 25 million people in the world being exploited in forced labour and human trafficking which generates $150 billion from the crime of trafficking: “Egregious examples of state-sponsored forced labour and horrific human rights abuses within China…this crime is also is linked to corruption, environmental degradation, discrimination, instability and dangerous, unregulated migration.”
To: G7 Trade Ministers
Re: Fulfilling G7 Commitments on Forced labour
September 6, 2021
Dear Ministers,
We are writing to provide recommendations for how the G7 can build upon the commitments it made in Cornwall, 2021, to address forced labour in global supply chains and in the digital
economy.
We were pleased to see forced labour highlighted in the Carbis Bay G7 Communiqué as an important issue warranting collective action by G7 countries.
Forced labour is pervasive across industries and supply chains, and can be found across the globe. There are an estimated 25 million people in the world being exploited in forced labour and human trafficking, and evidence suggests this number could be growing as a result of a number of global challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Egregious examples of state-sponsored forced labour and horrific human rights abuses within China have been well documented.
Traffickers make an estimated $150 billion from this crime, which also is linked to corruption, environmental degradation, discrimination, instability and dangerous, unregulated migration.
As Trade Ministers, you were tasked in the Carbis Bay G7 Communiqué to “identify areas for strengthened cooperation and collective efforts towards eradicating the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains.”
Below are five specific recommendations of efforts and
commitments G7 countries could make to advance efforts to eliminate forced labour and human trafficking from global supply chains.
- G7 members should harmonize minimum legal and regulatory standards to address
forced labour across the G7 and adopt new legislative frameworks as necessary. Such
harmonization should include all members prohibiting the import, export or internal sale
of goods and merchandise made or transported wholly or in part by forced labour, and
mandating companies operating in their jurisdiction conduct human rights and
environmental due diligence in their operations and supply chains, in line with the UN
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Increased accountability for and
partnership with private sector actors to take aggressive steps to eradicate forced labour
from within their own supply chains will be essential. - G7 countries should affirm that any future trade agreement, trade preference program or
other trade tools employed by a G7 country must contain provisions specifically
prohibiting the use of forced labour and require minimum compliance standards,
including due diligence criteria, for the elimination of human trafficking and forced
labour which include prohibiting and punishing these acts. G7 nations should also
provide support to lower income trading partners to help achieve these standards and
facilitate trade free of forced labour. - G7 members should commit to recognizing any forced labour-related import, export or
internal sale prohibition of one G7 country as prohibited in all G7 countries. To support
the principle of mutual recognition of forced labour prohibitions, G7 members should
commit to creating and strengthening mechanisms for robust information and data
sharing as well as the development of common criteria and methods based on best
practices. - Building off commitments made by G7 leaders in Cornwall, 2021, G7 nations should
further commit to use domestic means, including public procurement policies, and
multilateral institutions to prevent forced labour in global supply chains, including within
the digital economy. Members should look to previously agreed upon principles for
guidance, such as the right to work and freedom of association found in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. - The G7 should commit new financial resources to addressing human trafficking and
forced labour, including the commitment of resources to assist people who have been
victimized by forced labour or human trafficking in global supply chains. Members
should develop specific recommendations on best practices for assisting those who have
been harmed, including for rehabilitation and remediation purposes, which should be
designed with the meaningful participation of affected workers and survivors. Specific
attention should be paid to any harmful and unintended consequences that result from
government or private sector actions to address forced labour, including the displacement
of people employed by businesses sanctioned for forced labour.
“Eradicating the use of all forms of forced labour in global supply chains,” will be a significant
undertaking, and we believe these five provisions, if implemented, would enable serious
progress. It is also important to highlight that while forced labour within global supply chains is
a significant issue, it is one part of the larger issues of human trafficking and modern slavery. We
strongly encourage you to advocate within your respective governments for all ministries –
including trade, development and labour ministries – to play an active role in fighting modern
slavery within their respective purviews.
The G7 can play a critical role on these important issues, and we look forward to working with
each of you to realize the goal of ending forced labour. To that end, we’d like to request a
meeting to discuss these suggestions and other commitments you may be planning in detail.
Sincerely,
Kristen Abrams
Senior Director, Combatting Human
Trafficking, the McCain Institute for
International Leadership at ASU
Ambassador (ret.) Luis C.deBaca
Senior Fellow in Modern Slavery, Gilder
Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery,
Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University
Shawna Bader-Blau
Executive Director, Solidarity Center
Catherine R. Chen
CEO, Polaris
Minh Dang
Executive Director, Survivor Alliance
Blaise Desbordes
CEO, Max Havelaar, France
Nick Grono
CEO, The Freedom Fund
Christian Guy
CEO, Justice and Care
Fuzz Kitto
Co-Director, Be Slavery Free
Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne
Co-Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group
to End Modern Slavery and Human
Trafficking; Senate of Canada
Katherine Mulhern
CEO, Restitution
Jasmine O’Connor OBE
CEO, Anti-Slavery International
Molly Harriss Olson
CEO, Fairtrade Australia New Zealand
Philippe Sion
Managing Director, Forced labour &
Human Trafficking, Humanity United
Action
Nina Smith
CEO, GoodWeave International
Alex Thier
CEO, Global Fund to End Modern
Slavery
Kevin Thomas
CEO, Shareholder Association for
Research & Education
Martina Vanderberg
President, The Human Trafficking Legal
Center
Andrew Wallis OBE
CEO, Unseen
