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On 23 February 2022, the EU presented its draft pan-European supply chain law. This is a good signal for compliance with human rights and climate protection along global supply chains. In terms of the size of the companies, the EU draft is more ambitious than the German one. At the same time, there is also a lack of sufficient liability rules for companies or references to gender-sensitive measures to protect workers, especially women and girls, from exploitation and violence.
The Supply Chain Act for Germany has been adopted since June 2021 and finally holds German companies accountable. Now, an EU supply chain law is the next step in protecting human rights and the environment in supply chains. However, there have been delays here for months.
"It is very worrying that the business lobby in Brussels seems to be trying to gain time to prevent or postpone an EU supply chain law. Now the traffic light coalition must show that it is serious about what it promised in the coalition agreement. A strong EU supply chain law would also improve the protection of women's rights in the garment supply chain," said Gisela Burckhardt, FEMNET CEO. FEMNET therefore supports the open letter of the European Supply Chain Initiative to the European Commission.
The European Coalition for Business Justice and 60 civil society organisations have sent an open letter to EU Commissioners and other policy makers calling on them to make the future human rights and environmental due diligence legislation of companies gender-sensitive.
The lives of textile workers are at risk. While the Delta virus variant is spreading in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the garment factories are working at full capacity. Textile workers are exempted from lockdown to meet orders from brand manufacturers headquartered in countries with high vaccination rates.
In a letter initiated by the Clean Clothes Campaign, trade unions and civil society organisations from around the world address political and business leaders and call on them to take immediate action.
For a long time, FEMNET has advocated a legal regulation for companies to ensure compliance with labour and human rights requirements of their suppliers. The Supply Chain Act has now been passed.
The Treaty Alliance Germany has updated its flyer on the UN-Treaty. In addition to the Supply Chain Act in Germany, it describes the need to support the United Nations process for an agreement to implement binding rules on business and human rights worldwide. In addition, possibilities are shown, what each individual can do for it.
This week marks the eighth anniversary of the worst factory accident in the history of the textile industry, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. On 24 April 2013, 1135 textile workers were killed and over 2438 injured. Many workers still suffer from the consequences of their injuries and were unable to find work due to their disabilities. The compensation paid to victims and survivors is disproportionate to the suffering that people have experienced.
© FEMNET
The supply chain law is coming, that's for sure. A positive move, as the law can be passed before the upcoming federal election this year. As a result, companies are obliged to take responsibility for human rights and the environment. Violations should be controlled by a federal agency. If an undertaking breaches its obligations, the authority may impose fines and exclude the undertaking from public contracts. This is, after all, a step forward from the previous voluntary approaches.
In one 70 economists speak out in public (PDF file) for the introduction of a supply chain law in Germany. From an economics perspective, a supply chain law is necessary and feasible, according to the signatories. The project has been controversial between the coalition parties for months and is repeatedly delayed.
© Initiative Supply Chain Act
Activists of the Supply Chain Act initiative demonstrated today in Berlin. The meeting for a supply chain law has been postponed again. The demonstrators set up an oversized legal framework and symbolically handed over a petition with more than 222,222 signatures to the Federal Chancellery. Together with the alliance of more than 100 civil society organisations, FEMNET is calling for the law to no longer be postponed.
