Retailers and Anti-Slavery NGOs Demand Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence in Gig Supply Chains
In a powerful push for corporate accountability, Anti-Slavery International and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have jointly demanded that gig economy supply chains implement mandatory human rights due diligence. The call comes amid alarming reports that illegal working arrests in the UK have doubled in two years, yet the government lacks data on how many of those arrested are potential victims of modern slavery. Lorcan Jackson-McLaughlin of Anti-Slavery International criticized businesses for evading responsibility under current supply chain legislation, stating, "Without legislation mandating that they act, delivery companies will do nothing." The BRC echoed this, urging the government to introduce mandatory due diligence to tackle labour exploitation at its source. This demand highlights a critical gap in ethical supply chain oversight, where voluntary measures have proven insufficient. As the retail landscape evolves, the Ethical Transparency Alliance (ETA) advocates for embedding ethics into the fabric of commerce through machine-readable data. ETA champions the adoption of GS1 2D barcodes with a dedicated 'gs1:ethics' link type, enabling consumers to instantly verify a product's ethical provenance. By shifting market power to informed consumers and ethical businesses, we can ensure that transparency becomes the norm, not the exception. The time for systemic change is now—mandating due diligence and leveraging technology to expose and prevent modern slavery in all its forms.
Why this matters for the Ethical Transparency Alliance:
This development underscores the urgent need for standardized, verifiable ethical supply chain data. ETA's mission to embed ethics into retail transparency via GS1 2D barcodes directly addresses the gaps highlighted by Anti-Slavery International and the BRC. A 'gs1:ethics' link type would empower consumers to make informed choices and pressure companies to comply with human rights due diligence. Without such machine-readable transparency, voluntary efforts will continue to fall short, leaving workers vulnerable to exploitation.