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Slavery and the supply chain

We know that forced labour has been used in the production of cocoa, pig iron and hand-knotted rugs for export. However linking slavery to specific products on our shelves is complex and difficult. Companies therefore need to put systems in place in order to identify, prevent and end the use of forced labour to ensure that slavery is not part of the production of their goods and services. Business has a unique ability to address these issues and ensure that human rights are respected.

We are a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and encourage companies to implement their Base Code, a set of minimum labour standards. The ETI is one scheme that encourages companies to improve conditions of employment. http://www.ethicaltrade.org Another is fair trade, which guarantees producers a fair price for their products. The Fairtrade certification scheme aims to improve working conditions and puts responsibility on suppliers not to use forced labour. http://www.fairtrade.net/contactus.html

Find out more about how the supply chain works

Through this programme, we urge companies to think about how slavery is their business and to consider how adjusting their operations can prevent the use of slavery in their supply chains. We also encourage companies that work in sectors vulnerable to the use of slavery to work together and share methods that tackle slavery.

In January 2009 we hosted a workshop together with SustainAbility to bring together learning on how to improve the identification of forced labour in companies’ supply chains. These are the workshop learning points. This programme also seeks to ensure that forced labour is a key focus of business and human rights initiatives and debates. The UK parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights released a call for evidence on business and human rights in 2009. You can read Anti-Slavery’s response here (these are PDF documents, you will need Adobe Acrobat to read them, it is available for free, click to download.)

In January 2008 we launched a campaign to end the use of forced and exploitative labour in US agriculture. We supported our 2007 Award Winners, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) call for Burger King to join other major US fast-food corporations and take responsibility for working conditions in their supply chain. On the 23 May 2008 the CIW and Burger King signed an agreement, under which Burger King will pay 1.5 cents more per pound of tomatoes it buys, with a cent going directly to the tomato pickers’ wages. http://www.ciw-online.org

Anti-Slavery International is also working on tackling the use of forced labour in West Africa's cocoa industry, which was brought to the world's attention in 2000. You can read background information on this issue and take action .

The number of people trafficked for forced labour around the world is increasing. Research Anti-Slavery International carried out into trafficking in the UK uncovered 27 individual cases. These were migrant workers who had been trafficked, mainly through debt bondage, the removal of their passport or the use of intimidation and threats, and forced to work in the UK. People identified in the research had been trafficked into industries such as agriculture, construction, food processing and packaging, nursing, hospitality and the restaurant trade. Find out more on trafficking in the UK and how you can help stop it.