#11162 - Corporate Social Responsibility In A Global Supply Chain - International Law II

Corporate Social Responsibility in a Global Supply Chain

1. Issues

   1. Substantive Issues

      1. Human rights

      2. Protecting and preserving the environment

      3. Positive Public Image

         1. Be Profitable

   2. Procedural Issues

      1. Who is bound?

      2. Who has obligations?

         1. Implementation

         2. Remedies

   3. Law and Ethics

      1. Legal obligations

      2. Moral obligations

      3. Tax laws

      4. Securities laws

      5. State Corporation laws

      6. Trade laws

      7. Boycott laws

      8. System of preferences (GSP)

      9. GATT Art. XX(g)

      10. International Investment law

2. Interests of Corporation

   1. Profits

   2. Public relations

      1. No public flak

   3. Don’t want to run out of resources

   4. Comply with applicable laws/regulations

      1. Bare minimum compliance

   5. Avoid liability

      1. Full disclosure

3. 2008 Ruggie Report

   1. The Report’s objectives were three-fold:

      1. (1) The Report sets forth a framework based on the three core principles in its title-- protect, respect and remedy.

      2. (2) It seeks to provide a foundation and an authoritative focal point to facilitate diverse efforts by various stakeholders pursuing common goals.

      3. (3) It provides a useful map to help identify where and how business affects human rights.

   2. Framework:

      1. (1) The state duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business entities;

         1. This duty requires that States “take all necessary steps to protect against such abuse, including to prevent, investigate, and punish the abuse, and to provide access to redress.”

      2. (2) The corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and

         1. In order to demonstrate due diligence, companies would take into account the human rights contexts in the locations of their operations, the human rights impacts specific to those operations, and whether and how their operations contribute to human rights abuses.

      3. (3) The need for more effective access to remedies.

         1. The Report makes suggestions for improvements to each of the potential avenues and calls on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions, and others to increase awareness about remedies potentially available to aggrieved parties.

   3. Recommendations

      1. (1) Human rights treaty bodies make recommendations to States regarding their duty to protect against human rights abuses by business actors;

      2. (2) The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights assist in capacity-building in States that currently lack the tools to implement the Report's framework; and

      3. (3) The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises be revised because many voluntary corporate codes of conduct have exceeded the Guidelines and made them outdated.

      4. The Report also highlights proposals for a “well-resourced” “global ombudsman function that could receive and handle complaints.”

4. How to Build a Socially-Responsible Global Supply Chain

   1. (1) Keep it simple;

   2. (2) Make ethical considerations part of every buying decisions;

   3. (3) Collaborate, but stick to your principles;

   4. (4) Use the “how would it look to you?” test;

   5. (5) Use your buying power to good effect;

   6. (6) Communicate your ethical achievements.

5. Better Work

   1. Better Work is a partnership programme between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that aims to improve compliance with labour standards and promote competitiveness in global supply chains, in particular in labour intensive industries.

   2. It does this by promoting compliance with core international labour standards—as expressed in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work—and national labour law, as a basis for building socially responsible export strategies.

   3. In Asia, the programme operates in the garment sectors of Cambodia (as Better Factories Cambodia), Indonesia and Vietnam, where the industries are seen as pillars for providing employment opportunities and contributing to poverty reduction.

   4. Better Work and International Buyers

      1. Buyers committed to Better Work agree to the International Buyer Principles acknowledging their responsibility to take the following steps:

         1. (1) Participate consistently in the Buyers’ Forum;

         2. (2) Actively work toward strategic monitoring;

         3. (3) Actively encourage engagement by suppliers and agents (where applicable) in Better Work programmes, including cost sharing for enterprise-level advisory services and training; and

         4. (4) Focus on improvement processes.

6. IBM’s CSR Program

   1. IBM is committed to doing business with environmentally responsible suppliers.

   2. In 2010, IBM announced a major initiative to create a consolidated Social and Environmental Management System (S&EMS).

      1. The S&EMS requires all IBM suppliers to have a...